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CHRIST 
IN THB CAMP 

OR 

RKLIGION 
IN LKK'S ARMY 



By rev. jrWNl. JONES, D.D., 

Formerly Chaplain in Arm^^ of Northern Virginia ; Secretary Southern 

Historical Society; Author "Personal Reminiscences, Anecdotes 

and Letters of R. E. Lee," "Army of Northern 

Virginia Memorial Volume," etc. 




WITH AN \/'y 

INTRODUCTION 

By rev. J. C. CRANBERRY, D. D. , 

Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; formerly Chaplain 
in Army of Northern Virginia. 



RICHMOND, VA. : 

B. F. JOHNSON & CO. 

1887. 



Copyright, 1887, by 
B. F. Johnson & Co. 



i 






/ 



TO 

W. W. CORCORAN, ESQ., 

WHO HAS DONE SO MUCH TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF OUR CONFEDERATE DEAD; 
WHO HAS CARRIED • SUNSHINE INTO SO MANY OF THE HOMES OF THEIR 
WIDOWS AND ORPHANS, AND WHOSE WARM HEART AND LIBERAL HAND 
HAVE SO OFTEN ALLEVIATED THE SORROWS AND LIGHTENED THE 
BURDENS OF LIVING "MEN WHO WORE THE GRAY," THIS BOOK 
IS, BY HIS PERMISSION, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED — WITH 
THE EARNEST PRAYER THAT THE EVENING OF HIS 
DAYS MAY BE CHEERED BY THE CONSTANT PRES- 
ENCE OF THE SAVIOUR WHOM HE SERVES. 



PREFACE. 



THE history of the Army of Northern Virginia is yet 
to be written. Much concerning it has already 
been pubhshed — much that is valuable as " material for 
the future historian;" more, perhaps, that is worthless — 
but it remains for some master-hand to separate the 
wheat from the chaff and tell the true story of the 
heroic deeds and splendid achievements of that Grand 
Army which sheds lustre upon the American name and 
is fast becoming the pride of the whole country — North 
as well as South. 

It will ever be a source of regret to all lovers of the 
truth of history that the great chieftain who led this 
army to so many splendid victories, who sheathed his 
stainless sword at Appomattox and retired to the shades 
of academic life at Lexington, the Idol of his people and 
the admiration of the world, was not spared to finish the 
task he had begun of writing the history of his cam- 
paigns ; for the world would have believed what he 
wrote as implicitly as it did those modest despatches 
which used to be signed, " R. E. Lee, General." 

But he was called from his unfinished work to wear 
his glittering '' crown of rejoicing," and so we must wait 
for the historian of the future to study the material, 
estimate the " overwhelming numbers and resources " 
against which the Army of Northern Virginia fought, 
and give to posterity the results of his labors. 

But any history of that army which omits an account 
of the wonderful Influence of religion upon It — which 

(5) 



6 PREFACE. 

fails to tell how the courage, discipline and morale of the 
whole was influenced by the humble piety and evangeli- 
cal zeal of many of its officers and men — would be in- 
complete and unsatisfactory. The Army of Northern 
Virginia has a religious history as distinct and as easily 
traced as its military exploits, and the material for vol- 
umes on this feature of its history is so abundant, that 
in attempting its portrayal one is embarrassed chiefly by 
the richness of the mine he is to work — the main diffi- 
culty being that of selecting from the mass of material 
at his disposal so as to condense the wonderful story 
widiin the limits of a single volume. For such a work 
I think that I may (without improper egotism) claim 
some special qualifications. 

It was my proud privilege to follow the fortunes of 
that army, as private soldier or chaplain, from Harper's 
Ferry in '6i to Appomattox Court House in '65 — to know 
personally many of its leading officers — to mingle freely 
with the private soldiers in camp, on the march, in the 
bivouac, on the battle-field, and In the hospital — and to 
labor In those glorious revivals which made nearly the 
whole army vocal with God's praises. 

In 1865 I was solicited by many of my fellow-chaplains 
and old comrades, and by General Lee himself, to pre- 
pare this chapter of our history, and I collected at that 
time a large amount of material, to which I have since 
made constant additions. It will, therefore, be for me a 
" labor of love " to cull here and there an incident, to 
recall here and there a reminiscence, to paint here and 
there a picture which will serve to illustrate the subject, 
and to show beyond all cavil that " religion In Lee's 
army" was not a myth, but a blessed reality, a "silver 
lining " to the dark cloud of war, a bright spot in the 
gloomy picture, a solace in hardships, sufferings and 
afflictions, and a bright guiding star to many of our 
brave men when called on to " cross over the river and 
rest under the shade of the trees." 



PREFACE. 



In the preparation of this volume I have made free 
use of my own diary, and of letters from the army which 
I wrote for the Religious Hei^ald dihd the Christiaii Index, 
and especially of a series of papers recently published in 
the Religious Herald, which were very kindly received, 
and for the publication of which, in book form, I have re- 
ceived many calls from friends living in different sections 
of the country and representing all creeds of our evan- 
gelical Christianity. 

I must also make especial acknowledgment of In- 
debtedness to the excellent book of my friend, Rev. Dr. 
W. W. Bennett (late President of Randolph-Macon Col- 
lege), on "The Great Revival ; " to war files of several 
religious newspapers ; to a large number of letters and 
other documents furnished me in '65 and '66 by chaplains, 
missionaries, and others of our army-workers, and to a 
complete file of the minutes of our Chaplains' Associa- 
tion of the Second and Third Corps, furnished me by the 
courtesy of the accomplished secretary, Rev. L. C. Vass. 

Nor must I fail to make due acknowledgment to my 
old friend and honored brother. Rev. J. C. Cranberry, 
D. D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, 
for his admirable introduction. Bishop Cranberry's 
zealous and efficient service as chaplain in the Army of 
Northern Virginia — a service which was only tempo- 
rarily suspended when he was wounded and taken 
prisoner in the faithful discharge of his duty — gives 
him special qualification to speak on this subject, while 
his wide Influence with evangelical Christians of every 
name gives peculiar weight to his kiiid words of com- 
mendation. , 

It may be proper to add that, while the book Is written 
by an ardent Confederate, who does not pretend to con- 
ceal warm Confederate sympathies, everthing has been 
scrupulously avoided which could reasonably give offence 
from either sectional or sectarian bias. 



PREFACE. 



The work begun twenty-two years ago is now finished, 
and the author sends it forth with the earnest hope that 
it may prove acceptable to many at the North as well as 
at the South, with the fervent prayer that it may be use- 
ful in leading men to Christ and in strengthening the 
faith and brightening the hope of true children of our 
loving Father, who, behind the " frowning providence " 
of war, hid '' a smiling face " for those who trusted Him 
even in the storm. 

J. w. J. 

Richmond, Virginia, 

May 20, 1887. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction, by Bishop Cranberry . , . . « , . • I3 

CHAPTER I. 

RELIGIOUS ELEMENTS IN THE ARMY. 

The spirit in which the men in gray went to the front — A boy who found Jesus 
in the camp — Bitter memories of the war passing away — But the people of 
the South entered the war in a spirit of dependence upon God, and with 
earnest prayer for His blessing — Illustrations of the large proportion of 
Christian officers and men who entered the Confederate army — Letters from 
the camps and hospitals — Negroes praying for their young masters — Recip-* 
rocal tenderness l^etween the soldiers at the front and loved ones at home — 
Letter from Rev. Dr. Robert Ryland to his son in the army — Items from 
war-files of religious newspapers — Prayer-meetings, religious fervor and real 
consecration in the camps at the beginning of the war 17 

CHAPTER II. 

INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN OFFICERS. 

President Jefferson Davis — His messages and orders — His private char- 
acter — General R. E. Lee — His official life and utterances — "A poor sinner 
trusting in Christ alone for salvation" — Plis attendance upon religious ser- 
vices— At the soldiers' prayer-meeting — A believer in prayer — Hearty co-op- 
eration in effiarts for the good of his men — His despatches and orders breath- 
ing a spirit of humble trust in Christ — His life of active piety in Lexington — 
Illustrations of his ardent desire for, and active efforts for, the religious 
welfare of the students of his college — A man of prayer and a lover of God's 
Word — A liberal contributor and an earnest worker — A " son of consolation " 
to the afflicted — Letters of condolence — His friendship for Stonewall Jackson 
and grief at his death — "A revival that shall bring all of these young men to 
Christ" — His unsectarian spirit and love for all pertaining to our evangeli- , 
cal Christianity ............ 42 

CHAPTER III. 

influence of christian officers — Continued. 

Stonewall Jackson, the Christian soldier — My first interview with him — In- 
troducing a colporter — Jackson's first public prayer — " Deacon Jackson " — An 
efficient collector — A conscientious m?ister — His colored Sabbath-school — 

(9) 



10 CONTENTS. 

Leaving home for the army — His earnest devotion to the religious instruction 
of the negroes, and their a^ectionate attachment to him and his memory — 
Giving thanks for victory — A man of constant prayer — Trust in God at all 
times — "(iod blessed our arms with victory" — Fond of religious conversa- 
tion — Efforts to supply his corps with chaplains and to promote the spiritual 
welfare of the men — Preaching and prayer-meetings at his head-quarters — 
His influence upon individuals — Details of his triumphant death . . . 82 

CHAPTER IV. 

INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN OFFICERS— Conc/z(ded. 

General J. E. B. Stuart— General John B, Gordon— General D. H. Hill— Gen- 
eral R. S. Ewell — Colonel Lewis Minor Coleman ; sketch by Rev. Dr. J. L. 
Burrows — Rev. (Captain) Dabney Carr Harrison; sketch by Rev. Dr. Moses 
D. Hoge — Captain Hugh A. White ; sketch by his father, Rev. Dr. W. S. 
White— Fall of Captain Hugh White and Colonel W. H. S. Baylor— Dr. 
John A. Broadus on the influence of officers — Other illustrations . . . I02 

CHAPTER V. 

BIBLE AND COLPORTAGE WORK. 

Scarcity of Bibles — Liberal donations of the British and Foreign Bible Societies 
— Dr. Hoge's visit to England — Liberality of the American Bible Society — 
Incidents of dead soldiers' Bibles — Anxiety of the soldiers to procure Bibles 
— Earnest Bible-readers—" The tract man " — Tract societies and their work 
— Liberal contributions and large work — Letter from Hon. John Randolph 
Tucker — Speeches by Hon. J. R. Tucker, Colonel Wright, Hon. J. I ,. M. 
Curry and Judge Chilton — Reports of colporters ...... 148 

CHAPTER VI. 

HOSPITAL WORK. 

" Wayside hospitals " — " Field hospitals " — " Receiving hospitals " — " General 
hospitals" — The work of colportei'S, missionaries and chaplains in the 
hospitals — "Ministering angels" — Triumphant deaths— Christ in the hos- 
pitals — Reports of the workers ......... 196 

CHAPTER VII. 

WORK OF THE CHAPLAINS AND MISSIONARIES. 

Christian union — Letter from Dr. Wm. J. Hoge — Incidents— Rev. Dr. Jos. C. 
Stiles on chaplains and their work — Rev. Dr. Geo. B. Taylor — The " men 
wanted" — Organization of the Chaplains' Association — Address of the chap- 
lains to the churches 223 

CHAPTER VIII. 

EAGERNESS OF THE SOLDIERS TO HFJ^R THE GOSPEL. 

Large congregations and eager listeners — Incident? showing that one can preach 



CONTENTS. 11 

any day and any hour of the day — Preaching in the rain — On the march — 
On the battle-field — Prayer on eve of battle — Baptismal scenes — " I am alone 
in the world" — Wounded at preaching — A prayer-meeting in the "bomb- 
proof" — Chapel-building — Universities in reality vs. " Universities " in name. 242 

CHAPTER IX. 

STATE OF RELIGION IN 1861-62. 

Home mfluence and early spirit — Demoralization after first Manassas — Drunk- 
enness, profanity and gambling — Incidents — The disasters bring people and 
soldiers to their knees — Effect of the battles as "powerful preachers " — Be 
ginnings of revivals ........... 264 

CHAPTER X. 

REVIVALS IN THE LOWER VALLEY AND AROUND FREDERICKSBURG. 

Trimble's Brigade — Rev. Dr. Siiles's preaching — Letter from Dr. Stiles — A 
chaplain's account — Revival in the reserve artillery — Captain T. J. Kirkpat- 
rick's account — Rev. Hugh Roy Scott's sketch of "Camp Nineveh" — Re- 
vival in the Staunton hospitals — Interest in the Ninth Georgia — The great 
revival at Fredericksburg — Letter from Dr. Stiles — My own impressions and 
reports— A "last message" — Letter from Rev, Dr. Wm. J. Hoge on his 
visit to Fredericksburg and vicinity — Other revivals — Letter from Rev. James 
Nelson — Other reports • 283 

CHAPTER XL 

THE GREAT REVIVAL ALONG THE RAPIDAN. 

The work in Winchester — Letters from Rev. Dr. J. A. Broadus — RevivgJ in 
Rockbridge Artillery, Fifteenth North Carolina, Thomas's Georgia Brigade, 
Sixtieth Virginia Regiment, Wise's Brigade, Forty-second North Carolina 
Regiment, etc. — Great work along the Rapidan — Letters from chaplains and 
missionaries describing the work — Report of meeting of the Chaplains' As- 
sociation — Great revivals in Wilcox's Brigade, Mahone's Brigade, Gordon's 
Brigade, Walker's Brigade, Dole's Brigade, Armistead's Brigade, Kemper's 
Brigade, Ninth Virginia Cavalry, Smith's "Brigade, Hoke's Brigade, Hays's 
Brigade, Cobb's Legion, the artillery, Daniel's Brigade, Ramseur's Brigade, 
Scales's Brigade, Battle's Brigade, Wright's Brigade, Posey's Brigade, J. M. 
■Jones's Brigade, Stonewall Brigade, Corse's Brigade, Garnett's Brigade, Ben- 
ning's Brigade, Kershaw's Brigade, Lane's Brigade, Davis's Brigade, Kirk- 
land's Brigade, Semmes's Brigade, Barksdale's Brigade, Law's Brigade, 
Anderson's Brigade, Stuart's Brigade, Iverson's, Cooke's, McGowan's Bri- 
gade and other commands — Letters and details concerning the work . .312 

CHAPTER XII. 

PROGRESS OF THE WORK IN 1 864-65. 

Peculiar difficulties — Chapel-work — On the picket-lines — With the reserve 
artillery — Revivals in Wise's Brigade, Wright's Brigade, Long's Artillery 
Corps, Walker's Artillery Corps, B. R. Johnson's Brigade^ Davis's Brigade, ' 



12 CONTENTS. 

Wright's Brigade, Mahone's Brigade, Kirldarid's Brigade, Gordon's Brigade, 
Scales's Brigade, Third Virginia Infantry, etc. — Reports of meetings of the 
Chaplains' Association — Reports of chaplains and missionaries — Letters from 
the camps — Work in the trenches — Meetings in the bomb-proofs — An ap- 
pointment to preach broken by the breaking of our lines — Incidents . . 353 

CHAPTER XIII. 

RESULTS OF THE WORK AND PROOFS OF ITS GENUINENESS. 

Reports of an evangelist — The number of converts estimated at fully 15,000 — 
Proofs of the genuineness of the work — Testimony of religious bodies and 
leading ministers — The after-lives of the converts — Active workers for Christ 
— Ready to lead in prayer — Speaking for Christ — Becoming preachers — 
Fasting in order to give to God's poor — Incidents illustrating the calm resig- 
nation or ecstatic triumph with which ihey met death — "Apples of gold in 
pictures of silver " — Their conduct since the war — Filling our pulpits — Pil- 
lars in our churches — Plowing with one arm — Going to work — The leaders 
in every vocation — " The New South " made by the brains, the muscle, the 
pluck, the piety, of " the men who wore the gray " — Conclusion . . 390 



APPENDIX. 
Roster of Chaplains — Letters from leading Chaplains and Missionaries . . 465 



INTRODUCTION. 

By Rev. J. C. Cranberry, D. D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
South, formerly Chaplain in the Army of Northern Virginia. 



THESE annals are fresh and vivid. They read Hke the story 
of what happened yesterday. They are not less accurate 
for being aglow. Dr. Jones was no small part of the religious 
movement he narrates ; a quarter of a century does not fade in 
the memory of an actor in such extraordinary scenes. But he 
has not trusted memory alone. He has preserved or collected 
publications of the day; he jotted down many incidents when 
they occurred, and this history is with him no new thought. Be- 
sides, he writes out of his heart. Add to this how he loves the 
Army of Northern Virginia. He is too wise and live a man to 
miss present duties and privileges in brooding over a lost cause, 
or burying himself in the grave of the Confederacy : but recon- 
struction did not work out of him admiration and affection for 
his fellow-patriots and fellow-soldiers of 1 86 1-5 ; he went back 
into the Union with his whole heart (which, like his body, is big 
and strong), but the integrity of that heart includes changeless 
devotion to his comrades of the fiery struggle. 

To us of the South, this volume possesses special interest. 
For the men who wore the blue we have no unkindness ; we are 
ready to cast flowers on the neatly-kept graves of those who 
fell, and to clasp the hands of those who survive; but the men 
who wore the gray are our brothers, defenders, heroes. The 
ex-Confederate may now be a Democrat or a Republican ; he 
may reside in Florida or Washington Territory : but his heart 
will be still and cold in death when it ceases to throb and warm 
at the mention of the soldiers of the South, whether they sleep 
as the greater part do, or yet live. How grateful then to us 
should be the story of what divine grace did for those brave 
men; how it exalted and hallowed their character, comforted 

(13) 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

them amid all their risks and sufferings, inspired the dying, 
whatever may have been the issue of the day, with immortal 
triumph, and continues to be in peace as in war the guide and 
joy of those whom battle, accident and disease have spared ! 

But the value of this book is not restricted by sectional, 
partisan, or national lines. It is independent of all political and 
social questions involved in the civil strife. These pages do not 
discuss slavery, State-rights, secession ; nor compare the skill of 
generals and prowess of troops on the opposing sides. " Christ 
in the Camp; or. Religion in the Army," never mind what camp 
or army, is a theme of deep, thrilling, world-wide significance. 
The only triumphs the author records are the triumphs of the 
cross. That so many soldiers were saved by the power of the 
Gospel to the praise of the riches of God's grace is the fact in 
which he desires all Christians to rejoice. Some narrow and 
prejudiced Federals may not be able to understand how it was 
possible for those men to be saved without repenting of " the 
sin of rebellion." We cannot waste time on them. Those of 
broader views and more generous spirit, especially godly men 
who followed the Stars and Stripes, will thank God for the evi- 
dence that the soldiers who opposed them with constancy and 
valor, many shedding their lifeblood on the field, were partakers 
of like precious faith with themselves. To me it is a happy 
thought that in the two confronting camps, often at the same 
hour, there rose with voice and heart the common strain, 

"All hail the power of Jesus' name ! " 

r would add my testimony to that of Dr. Jones on the evan- 
gelical tone of the preaching and worship in our army. Chap- 
lains and visiting ministers determined not to know anything 
among them save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. It was always 
assumed that the cause for which they contended was righteous ; 
on it was invoked the divine blessing, and the troops were ex- 
horted to faithful service. But the grounds of the war Were not 
discussed ; constitutional and historical questions were passed 
by, except a certain local coloring, such as illustrations drawn 
from active military life and appeals based on the perils of war. 
The sermons in the camp would have suited any congrega- 
tion in city or country, and with even less change might have 
been preached to the Union armies. Eternal things, the claims 
of God, the worth of the soul, the wages of sin which is death, 



INTRODUCTION. l5 

and the gift of God which is eternal Hfe through Jesus Christ 
our Lord — these were the matter of preaching. The marrow 
And fatness of the Gospel were set forth. The' style was not con- 
troversial, speculative or curious, but eminently practical and 
direct; hortatory, yet also instructive. There were pathos and 
urgency of appeal. The hearers were besought to immediate 
and uncompromising action, for the time was short. The songs^ 
prayers, lay testimonies and exhortations, in a word, all the ex- 
ercises, were in the same line. There was no stirring up of bad 
blood ; no inflaming of malice and revenge. The man of God 
lifted up, not the Bars and Stars, but the cross, and pressed the 
inquiry, " Who among you are on the Lord's side ? " 

" Religion in the army " was a peculiar type or phase of piety. 
I mean not that it differed from religion in other armies, but 
that it differed from religion at home and in peace ; identical in 
essence, but modified in manifestation by the extraordinary cir- 
cumstances amid which it sprang up or developed. It was a 
variety in the fruit of the manifold grace of God ; it had its own 
form, color, flavor. Military discipline was not wholly unfavor- 
able. The martial imagery of which Paul was fond shows an 
analogy between the life of the soldier and the life of the saint. 
The centurion of Capernaum and the centurion of Cesarea were 
patterns of faith and of a devout spirit. The soldier's habits of 
unquestioning obedience to orders, of trust in superior officers, 
and of freedom from anxiety about things for which he is not 
responsible, fit into the life of faith. Our men planned not for 
the future, but did the duty of the hour; they went when and 
whither they were bid, were content not to know beforehand the 
object of a campaign or the strategy for its accomplishment, and 
drew not back from any feat, however apparently impossible, 
or any hazards, however apparently unnecessary. Yet they were 
intelligent and thoughtful and full of enthusiasm in the cause for 
which they fought. Multitudes of them, privates as well as 
officers, prized not their own liberty, health or life in comparison 
with the honor and success of the Confederate States. They 
carried into their religion a profounder faith and consecration. 

Certainly our soldiers were exposed to severe temptations, 
and deprived of many aids to pious culture. Yet grace tri- 
umphed overall those advantages. I have nowhere witnessed 
more complete, symmetrical and beautiful examples of Christian 
character than in the army. Some of them were boys, others 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

mature men; some in the ranks, others officers of various grades. 
Away from the happy influences of neighborhood and home, 
they were chaste, temperate and pure. Cut off from Church and 
Sunday-school, often having no day of sacred rest and httle 
communion of saints, they feared the Lord and thought upon His 
name. On every march they carried the well-thumbed Bible, 
and the hard ground on which they lay without pillow, bed or 
tent, often proved to them a Bethel. The lonely vigils of sen- 
tinels and picket were hallowed and cheered by sweet medita- 
tions of God. Patience had her perfect work amid the long 
privations and discomforts of their lot. They were kind, sym- 
pathetic and generous to their comrades in arms; and these were 
the only persons with whom, as a rule,- they came in contact. 
They delighted in devotional meetings, and were not ashamed 
to witness for Christ. Not recklessly, but with thoughtful and 
prayerful solemnity, they went into fierce battle ; yet the peace 
of God which passeth all understanding kept their hearts against 
alarm ; and if a ball shivered a limb, or entered the body, a smile 
of resignation lit up the rugged faces as they were borne off to 
the hospital and surgeon, or with words of victory they on the 
field yielded up their spirit to the God in whom they trusted. 
To God be all the glory ! J. C. Cranberry. 



CHAPTER I. 

RELIGIOUS ELEMENTS IN THE ARMY. 

ON the memorable 17th day of April, 1861 — the day on 
which the Virginia Convention, in response to Mr. 
Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men to coerce the 
seceded States, passed its ordinance of secession — there occurred 
at the little village of Louisa Court House a scene similar to 
those enacted all over Virginia and the South, which none who 
witnessed it can ever forget. The " Louisa Blues," a volunteer 
company composed of the best young men of the county, were 
drilling at noon on the court green, when a telegram from the 
governor of the State ordered them to be ready to take a train 
of cars at sundown that evening. Immediately all was bustle 
and activity — couriers were sent in every direction to notify 
absentees — and in every household there were busy fingers and 
anxious hearts preparing those brave men to meet promptly the 
call of the sovereign power of their native State. 

I remember one doting mother who wept in secret the tears 
she restrained in the presence of her loved boy of just sixteen 
summers, who had but recently risen from severe illness, but 
whose frame grew strong with eagerness to march with his com- 
rades to the post of duty. When asked if she was not willing 
tor her boy to respond to his country's call, she replied in that 
spirit of patriotism which characterized the women of the South 
throughout the war: " Certainly I am! I wish him to go, and 
should be ashamed of him if he were unwilling to go. But there 
is one thought of which I cannot rid myself, and which causes 
me the bitterest anguish. I have always looked upon an army 
as a complete * school of vice,' and I fear that, amid the demoraliz- 
ing influences of the camp, my boy (carefully nurtured though 
he has been) will wander far from the paths of virtue and religion, 
and will come back, if spared to return, not the innocent boy 
I send forth to my country's service, but a reckless, vicious 
man." 

2 (17) 



18 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

An hour before the appointed time that splendid company- 
mustering considerably more than its previous roll strength, for 
a number of new recruits had enlisted in its ranks — marched to 
the depot where an immense crowd had assembled to see them 
off. An aged minister of the gospel (now gone to his reward) 
spoke words of earnest counsel, and led in a fervent prayer that 
the God of Jacob might go forth with these young men, keep 
them in the way whither they went, and bring them back to 
their homes in peace and safety — but, above all, that he would 
shield them from the vices of the camp and lead them into paths 
of righteousness. 

The man of God is interrupted by the shrill whistle of the iron 
horse — the train dashes up to the depot — all are soon aboard, 
and, amid tender farewells and suppressed sobs of anxious 
friends, and the waving of handkerchiefs and vociferous cheers 
by the vast crowd, those patriot-soldiers hurry forth at the bid- 
ding of their loved and honored Virginia. 

At Gordonsville they were met by companies from Augusta 
and Albemarle, and two companies of students from the 
University of Virginia, who marched forth from those classic 
shades to illustrate a bright page in the history of their Alma 
Mater. 

Orange, Culpeper and other counties along the route swelled 
their numbers as they rushed to the capture of Harper's Ferry 
and the defence of the border. 

The call of Virginia now echoes through the land — from sea- 
board to mountain-valley, from Alleghany to Chesapeake, from 
the Potomac to the North Carolina border, the tramp of her sons 
is heard. Maryland, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, 
Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri 
and Texas catch the sound, and her sons in every clime heed 
the call of their Mother State. The farmer leaves his plow in 
the furrow, the mechanic his job unfinished, the merchant his 
books unposted, the lawyer his brief unargued, the physician his 
patient unattended, the professor his chair unfilled, the student 
his classes, and the preacher his pulpit, and there rush to our 
northern frontier, not Hessian or Milesian mercenaries, not men 
bought up for so much *' bounty money," but the wealth, the 
intelligence, the refinement and culture, the virtue and patriotism, 
the very flower of our Southern youth and manhood. 

Thus was formed what was afterwards called the Army of 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 19 

NortJiern Vii'ginia — the noblest army (I hesitate not calmly to 
affirm, after the lapse of years) that ever marched under any 
bc,nner or fought for any cause " in all the tide of time." But I 
do not propose, in these papers, to atternpt even a sketch of the 
military exploits of this noble army of heroes. 

I revert rather to another and far different scene from the one 
I have sketched. Over a year has rolled by, and that fair-haired, 
rosy-cheeked boy, "mother's darling," of April, 1861 — now a 
bronzed veteran of the Army of Northern Virginia, who has fol- 
lowed the " stars and bars " on many a victorious field — returns to 
his boyhood's home. But he comes not back with light, elastic 
step and erect carriage as when he marched forth so gayly at his 
country's call. He is borne on a litter — he has been shot through 
the lungs, his life-tide is ebbing away, and he has come home to 
die. On that memorable 27th day of June, 1862, at Cold Harbor, 
when " Stonewall " Jackson issued his crisp order, " Tell General 
Ewell to sweep the field with the bayonet," and our whole line 
pressed grandly forward, carried every position before it, and 
persuaded General McClellan that it was indeed time to " change 
base " from before Richmond to the shelter of his gun-boats at 
Harrison's Landing, our youthful hero fell in the very forefront 
of the battle in one of the most splendid charges of the famous 
old Thirteenth Virginia Infantry. The surgeons gave us no 
hope, but God spared him to reach hom.e and linger for over six 
months to illustrate how a Christian soldier could be patient 
under suffering, and how, when he came to die, a smile could 
light up his countenance, joy could beam from his eye and peace 
reign within his heart. The camp had not proven to him a 
"school of vice," but on the contrary he had learned there the 
preciousness of his mother's Bible, and had gone with simple 
faith to her Saviour. And as the last hour drew near he met 
death with calm resignation, said to the weeping loved ones who 
stood around : " I trust in Jesus and am not afraid to die," and 
left, in his triumphant death as well as in the peaceful hours of 
his later life, the fullest assurance that he went to join his sainted 
mother — for she had " gone before," a few weeks prior to his 
death — in that brighter, better home above, where " war's rude 
alarms " never disturb, and loved ones never part. 

The fears of that Christian mother, as her boy left the parental 
roof to encounter the peculiar temptations of soldier life, were 
the fears of our wisest and best men. Armies had been hitherto 



20 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

regarded as decidedly demoralizing, and it had passed into <i 
proverb : " The worse the man the better the soldier," against 
which the examples of Hedley, Vickars, Havelock, Colonel Gardi- 
ner and other Christian soldiers were cited in vain. It is not for a 
moment denied that these fears were well-founded, and that as a 
rule the influence of an army is demoralizing. Its very object is 
to destroy life, and its scenes of carnage unquestionably tend, if 
not properly used, to blunt the moral perceptions, and harden in 
iniquity. And, then, absence from the influences of home and 
church, and the restraints of society, coupled with the common 
idea that things which would be criminal at other times are 
allowable in the army — all tend to raise the floodgates of 
immorality and vice. 

I shall give no rose-colored picture in these sketches, but shall 
frankly admit that vices common to most armies were, alas ! 
but too prevalent in our own, and that many of our most skilful 
officers and bravest men blotted their fair name by open vice or 
secret sin. 

But I shall be able to show, on the other hand, that Jesus was 
in our camps with wonderful power, and that no army in all 
history — not even Cromwell's " Roundheads " — had in it as 
much of real, evangelical religion and devout piety as the Army 
of Northern Virginia. 

I shall not discuss in these pages the causes of the great "War 
between the States," or revive any of its "buried issues." Let 
its stormy passions, its animosities, its bitter memories be buried 
forever beneath the wave of forgetfulness. And let us thank 
God that men who *' wore the blue " and men who " wore the 
gray " may meet once more in friendly reunion — that older 
brethren. North and South, long alienated, have come to " see 
eye to eye," and to realize that they had only been " looking at 
the opposite sides of the shield " — that younger men have no 
alienations to reconcile, no bitter memories of a stormy past to 
efface — that the day is hastening when the North and the South 
shall be more ready to do justice to each other's motives — that 
the day has come when a Confederate soldier, on a Boston plat- 
form, or a Federal soldier, to a Charleston audience, may 

" Shoulder his crutch 
. And fight his battles o'er again," 

while those who were once his enemies, now his friends, stand 
with uncovered head, or cheer to the echo his story of heroic deeds. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 21 

But it is due to the truth of history, as well as necessary to a 
correct understanding of my subject, that I should say that the 
Christian people of the South not only thought they were right 
in resisting the invasion of their soil and the coercion, by the 
Federal Government, of sovereign States, but that they went forth 
to battle, or sent their sons, in firm reliance upon " the Lord of 
hosts," Scarcely a company moved without some public religious 
service, and it was considered a most important part of each man's 
equipment that he should carry in his knapsack a copy of God's 
word. 

All of our evangelical denominations were well represented in 
the rank and file of our army, and many of our preachers felt it 
their duty to go to the front, accompanied by the very flower of 
their young men. Of the first four companies from Georgia to 
arrive in Virginia, three of the captains were earnest. Christian 
men, and fifty of one of the companies were members of the same 
church. A regiment, stationed near Portsmouth in June, 1861, 
was reported to contain 400 of the same denomination, and 
another regiment had in its ranks Jivc ministers of the gospel. I 
well remember that the first time I ever saw the famous old 
Rockbridge Artillery — on the 4th of July, 1861, when we were 
drawn up in line of battle at Darksville, in the lower Valley of 
Virginia, expecting an attack from General Patterson — it con- 
tained seven Masters of Arts of the University of Virginia, forty- 
two other college graduates, nineteen theological students, others 
(including a son of General R. E. Lee) who were among the 
noblest young men of the South, and a proportion of Christian 
men as surprisingly large as it was highly gratifying. 

When the news of the secession of Virgmia reached the quiet lit- 
tle town of Lexington, Virginia, nestled among the Blue moun- 
tains, some of the students of Washincfton Colleg'e at once raised 
a secession flag on the dome of the college building. (They had 
done the same thing some days before, but the faculty had unan- 
imously voted that it must be taken down, as Virginia was still 
in the Union.) The next morning, the president of the college, 
Rev. Dr. Junkin (the father-in-law of the afterwards famous 
" Stonewall " Jackson, but an ardent Union man all through the 
war), called a meeting of the faculty to ask what they proposed 
to do about the breach of discipline on the part of the students, 
as he regarded it, in again raising the flag on the college. 

Professor White voiced the sentiments of the faculty and of the 



22 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

whole State when he at once said, ** Virginia has now acted, and 
the boys are right. I say let the flag wave, and, for myself, I 
propose to fight under it, and to use my influence to induce our 
students to do the same." 

Accordingly, he raised among the students and a few graou- 
ates of the college a company of seventy-two, which they called 
the *' Liberty Hall Volunteers, " the name borne by a company 
of students from the same institution who did valiant service in 
the Revolution of 1776. They elected Professor White as 
their first captain, all of their officers were Christian men, more 
than half of the rank and file belonged to some evangelical church, 
and about one-fourth were candidates for the ministry. 

Rev. Dr. J. M. P. Atkinson, President of Hampden-Sidney 
College, organized a company composed of his own students and 
those of the Union Theological Seminary, and nearly all of this 
company were professed Christians. 

Not a few of our pastors had a large majority, and sometimes 
all of their male members in the army, and in some cases they 
commanded companies composed largely of members of their 
own churches. 

I cannot better illustrate the subject of this chapter than by 
giving from the files of our religious newspapers copious extracts 
from letters from the camp, or from men in position to see and 
know the state of things in the army, and among the 
people during these early days of the war. Some of these 
extracts illustrate several of my chapters, but I give them as 
they are. 

Rev. Dr. Joseph Walker thus writes from Richmond to the 
Religions Herald, under date of May 2, 1861 : 

''Messrs. Editors : I have never understood the compatableness 
of Christianity with war as I see it in the present struggle for 
Southern independence. Nev^er have I seen or read of greater 
promptness on the part of Christians, of all denom^iations, to 
shoulder the musket in defence of their homes, their families, 
and all that makes life desirable. I can now comprehend what 
is meant by the New Testament phrase, * a devout soldier,' for I 
have seen the men for whom I have preached, with whom I have 
prayed, and whom I have seen presiding at Baptist associations, 
fully panoplied for the war. The self-denial of volunteers to 
serve in this war is unmistakably manifest in the advent among 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 23 

US of Southern soldiers. The gallant South Carolinians came 
first. Close on their rear came the Georgians ; and we hear that 
Alabanp, Mississippi and Louisiana are on the way. To cap the 
climax, we hope soon to see Jefferson Davis on the hills of Rich- 
mond. But my main object in penning these lines was to speak 
briefly of the Georgians. At least three of the companies already 
arrived are commanded by Christians. Captain Doyall and 
Captain Beall are Baptists ; Captain Smith is a Methodist ; Cap- 
tain Hardeman, though not, I believe a professor himself, is 
closely connected with a religious family. All of these gentle- 
men occupy high social positions in their several communities, 
and their companies comprise the best fighting, and some of the 
best praying materials of this nation. With a just cause and 
such defenders, car^ the contest in favor of the South be 
doubtful ? 

This morning I had the pleasure of visiting Captain Beall's 
company, which is quartered in this city. A more substantial 
body of men cannot be found. Among them are lawyers, doc- 
tors, and deacons of churches. From forty to fifty of this 
company are Baptists, mostly from Irwinton, Georgia, and its 
vicinity ; Beall, Rivers and Stanly are my personal acquaint- 
ances and friends, who have left (I hope only for a brief season) 
interesting families, whose hospitality I have often enjoyed. May 
God preserve these patriots, and return them at His good pleas- 
ure to their homes. 

Joseph Walker. 
Richmond, May 2, 1861. 

The North Carolina Presbyterian had, about this same date, the 
following editorial : 

" The ministers of the Gospel of Peace throughout the South 
seem to be fully alive to the awful issue presented to us by the 
Northern people, who are prepared to invade our homes, and 
they are meeting it like men who have as much at stake as 
others. Reference was made last week to the fact that there 
were three ministers in one of the companies of Home Guards 
formed in this place. In the other company there are two minis- 
ters. The last North Carolina Christian Advocate, referring to 
this subject, says : " The Rev. Messrs. Atkinson, Presbyterian ; 
Fitzgerald and Smedes, Episcopal ; James and Skinner, Baptist; 



24 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

J, W. Tucker, Methodist, and one of the editors of this paper, 
have attached themselves to the Home Guard, a company or- 
ganized in this city, under the command of Senator Bragg, for 
the defence of our homes. The other editor of this journal is 
aiding in forming a similar company near his residence in the 
country. Rev. \yillis L. Miller, formerly one of the editors of 
the NortJi Carolina Presbyterian^ is the captain of the Thomas- 
ville Rifles, which company has offered its services to the State." 

A letter from Richmond, Virginia, states that the Rev. George 
Woodbridge, D. D., pastor of the Monumental (P. E.) Church, 
and a graduate of West Point, has been busily engaged for 
several nights drilling two volunteer companies. The Rev. Dr. 
Wilmer, pastor of the Emanuel Church, near Richmond, is the 
captain of a military company. The Rev. ^Moses Hoge, D. D., 
is a member of the Home Guard." 

Rev. Dr. A. E. Dickinson, who had been for several years 
superintendent of the Virginia Baptist colportage board, and who 
in the early days of the war saw the necessity for this work, and 
promptly sent his band of trained colporters to the army and the 
hospitals, thus writes in the Religious Herald: 

" There never was a more inviting field for colportage effort 
than that now afforded by the large armies that are being 
stationed at various points in this State. In a few hours a col- 
porter may place a tract in the hands of hundreds of our most 
promising young men, may urge upon them the claims of the 
Gospel, and in many ways do them good. Who can calculate 
the amount of good that maybe done by placing the life of 
Havelock, or of Captain Vicars, or of Colonel Gardner, in the 
hands of an ambitious young man. The greater portion of the 
soldier's time is now occupied by the duties of his profession. 
How many leisure hours may be rescued from scenes of vice and 
turned to good account by having a colporter in every regi- 
ment ? A large proportion of the volunteers are professors of 
religion. In a company of seventy-five we found twelve Baptists, 
and were told of another company in which there were forty. 
The flower of our churches are enlisted for this struggle, and it 
is sad to think of how many temptations will beset thern, and 
of the probability that many will be led into the paths of vice, 
and have their Christian character wrecked. Of what immense 
value would a colporter be to this class in affording them good 
books and collecting them in prayer-meetings. Having secured 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 25 

the sympathy and co-operation of the pious, the colporter could 
through them reach even the most irrehgious. We invite 
earnest, prayerful attention to the subject. It is one of unspeak- 
able importance. ' Let our pious, self-sacrificing men be urged 
by the constraining love of Christ to say, * Here I am, send me ; ' 
and let patriotism, as well as religion, afford the means for their 
support." 

i A colporter writes : " I have been visiting the volunteers in 
^this county, and I find them very anxious to obtain pocket 
Bibles and Testaments. Some of these brave men have wept as 
I have spoken to them of the claims of the Gospel, and they 
have asked me to pray for them. I lose no opportunity for 
speaking to them of their soul's salvation, and I do think that 
good is being done." 

A Southern Methodist bishop wrote with respect to the state 
of things in his vicinity : ** There is more prayer among the 
people generally than heretofore. Prayer for the country and 
for brothers, sons and husbands, calls the people so often to the 
mercy-seat that it must almost necessarily increase the spirit of 
devotion among them. Hence there is a good deal of religious 
feeling in our congregations." 

The following will illustrate a phase of Southern society and 
the kindly relations and sympathies between master and slave 
which none can appreciate who did not witness them, but illus- 
trations of which could be indefinitely multiplied. The incident 
is related by the Texas CJiristian Advocate: "A Texas planter 
having responded in person to one of the late calls of Colonel 
Van Dorn for service in the West, his negroes were left in the 
care of the overseer. One night, at a late hour, the overseer 
was aroused by a noise at the ' quarter.' He immediately arose 
and went in the direction of the noise far enough to ascertain 
that it was the voice of prayer. Drawing still nearer, he dis- 
covered that the prayer-meeting was a special occasion, for the 
benefit of the master who had * gone to the wars.' Earnest 
prayers ascended that his health and life might be spared, and 
that God would grant him a safe return." 

The following was from a soldier on duty at Manassas Junc- 
tion, who professed conversion and was baptized after he 
enlisted in the struggle for Southern independence : *' I have re- 
ceived and distributed the greater portion of the tracts among 
my brother soldiers. May God's word be blessed to the turning 



26 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

of their hearts to Jesus. We feel that God's people are praying 
for us ; and surely the poor soldier, more than any one else, 
needs to be remembered at the mercy-seat. Oh, that none may 
fall in battle till at the feet of the Crucified One they have found 
joy and peace! My own heart is so sinful that I often tremble 
lest I may be a castaway, but in the mercy of God through Jesus 
Christ I hope. I hope that the Christians of this land will pray 
that .the peace of God may be sent into the hearts of all, that our 
rulers may rule in righteousness, and that the North may see its 
folly and guilt in seeking to subdue and oppress the South." 

Two prayer-meetings were reported as held weekly in Jackson, 
Mississippi, on behalf of Southern soldiers — one, a female prayer- 
meeting, held in private residences on Monday ; another held on 
Wednesday, at 5 p.. m,, alternately at the different churches. 
Members of all denominations participated in both. 

A correspondent writes : 

"A soldier from one of the Gulf States, w^hose company was 
stationed at Norfolk, Virginia, was very sick. A kind lady paid 
him a visit and found him delirious. He gazed at her a moment 
and said : ' Go away from me; you are not my mother.' But her 
heart was too full of sympathy for the mother of whom the 
poor soldier was thinking to leave him. She waited until the 
fever had abated, and then she talked to him of his absent, loved 
mother. Tears flowed down the sick man's cheeks, and that 
interview was a blessing to him, as also to the kind woman who 
had hunted him out. 

" Whose heart does not swell with tender emotions as he looks 
upon the noble soldiers who are flocking to our State, and thinks 
of the mothers they have left behind? Oh, the anxious hearts, 
the tender tears, the earnest prayers of Southern mothers, as day 
after day and hour after hour they think of the loved ones far 
away on the battle-fields of the Old Dominion ! 

" Reader, if you know anything of a parent's heart you will 
sometimes think of these mothers, and your prayers will ascend 
with theirs for a blessing on their sons. What patriot and 
Christian but will thank God that an effort is being made to 
send^ colporters among the soldiers, through whose labors they 
may be instructed in the things that pertain to salvation. Surely 
such an enterprise ought to have the sympathies, prayers and 
contributions of every Christian among us. The colporters may 
. rest assured that every hour in every day some pious mother 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 27 

will be pleading before the mercy-seat for heaven's richest bless- 
ings upon their labors. Colporters, think, I beseech you, ^f these 
mothers; make mention of them as you go among their sons. 
It will enable you to deliver your message with more of tender- 
ness, and they will hear it with more of profit." 
Rev. Dr. Geo. B. Taylor writes from Staunton : 
" We have had a good many soldiers at this place, and I have 
found it very pleasant to visit them in capacity of minister and 
self-appointed colporter. By making a public request for small 
Bibles and Testaments I secured from the citizens generally some 
two or three bushels, which I distributed, getting from each 
soldier receiving one the promise that he would read it. I 
would suggest that brethren in the country and in towns, where 
there are more Bibles and Testaments than are actually needed, 
collect as many as possible together and forward them to some 
point where they may be given to the soldiers ; small hymn- 
books are also acceptable. One brother introduced himself to 
me and begged for a hymn-book, saying that he would have 
daily worship with his company. I said that I would go home 
and get one, and hand it to him as the regiment passed out of 
town. They were then about starting. I stationed myself on 
the sidewalk to find my friend. There was no trouble in doing 
this, for a square before he reached me he held out his hand to 
attract my attention. I was more than repaid by his joy and 
gratitude when I gave him a prayer-meeting hymn-book. Nor 
could I help emptying my pockets to other soldiers, who seemed 
eager to take Testaments and hymn-books even as they were 
marching off As I was talking to one soldier about the Testa- 
ments I was distributing and referringr to their small size, a com- 
rade, partially overhearing my remarks, asked whether it was 
hooks I was speaking of I told him, ' Yes, hooks to catch men ; ' 
and asked him if he had been caught. He told me he was a 

Christian." 

The following is from the pen of the venerable and beloved 
Rev. Dr. Robert Ryland, so long president of Richmond College, 
and is given in full, as illustrating the views and feelings of one 
of our noblest Christian ministers — one of our most widely 
known and honored representative Southern men— in writing in 
the early days of the war to his son, who had enlisted in the Con- 
federate army : 



28 

"A Letter to a Son in Camp. 

"At Home, July 17, 1861. 

^'My Dear Son : It may have seemed strange to you that a 
professing Christian father so freely gave you, a Christian son, 
to enlist in the volunteer service. My reason was that I regarded 
this as 2, purely defensive zvar. Not only did the Southern Con- 
federacy propose to adjust the pending difficulties by peaceful 
and equitable negotiations, but Virginia used again and again 
the most earnest and noble efforts to prevent a resort to the 
sword. These overtures having been proudly spurned, and our 
beloved South having been threatened with invasion and subjuga- 
tion, it seemed to me that nothing was left us but stern resistance 
or abject submission to unconstitutional power. A brave and 
generous people could not for a moment hesitate between such 
alternatives. A war in defence of our homes and firesides — of 
our wives and children — of all that makes life worth possessing is 
the result. While I most deeply deplore the necessity for the 
sacrifice, I could not but rejoice that I had a son to offer to the 
service of the country, and if I had a dozen I would most freely 
give them all. As you are now cheerfully enduring the hard- 
ships of the camp, I know you will listen to a father's sug- 
gestions touching the duties of your new mode of life. 

**i. Take special care of your health. More soldiers die of 
disease than in battle. A thin piece of damp sponge in the 
crown of your hat during exposure to the hot sun — the use of 
thick shoes and a waterproof coat in rainy weather — the practice 
of drinking cold water, when you are very warm, as slowly as 
you sip hot tea — the thorough mastication of your food — the 
avoiding of damp tents and damp grounds during sleep — and 
frequent ablutions of your person, are all the hints I can give you 
on this point. Should you need anything that I can supply, let 
me hear from you. I will do what I can to make you comfortable. 
After all, you must learn to endure hardness as a good soldier. 
Having never slept a single night in your whole life except in a 
pleasant bed, and never known a scarcity of good food, you 
doubtless find the ways of the camp rough ; but never mind. 
The war, I trust, will soon be over, and then the remembrance 
of your hardships will sweeten the joy of peace. 

" 2. The rules of war require prompt and unquestioning obedi- 
ence. You may sometimes think the command arbitrary and the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 29 

officer supercilious, but it is yours to obey. An undisciplined army 
is a curse to its friends and a derision to its foes. Give your whole 
influence, therefore, to the maintenance of lawful authority and 
strict order. Let your superiors feel that whatever they intrust 
X.O yoit will be faithfully done. Composed of such soldiers, and 
led by skilful and brave commanders, our army, by the blessing 
of God, will never be defeated. It is, moreover, engaged in a 
holy cause, and must triumph. 

"3. Try to maintain your Christian profession among your 
comrades. I need not caution you against strong drink as 
useless and hurtful, nor against profanity, so common among 
soldiers. Both these practices you abhor. Aim to take at once 
a decided stand for God. If practicable, have prayers regularly 
in your tent, or unite with your fellow-disciples in prayer-meet- 
ings in the camp. Should preaching be accessible, always be a 
hearer. Let the world know that you are a Christian. Read a 
chapter in the New Testament which your mother gave you, 
every morning and evening when you can, and engage in secret 
prayer to God for his Holy Spirit to guide and sustain you. I 
would rather hear of your death than of the shipwreck of your 
faith and good conscience. 

"4. As you will come into habitual contact with men of every 
grade, make special associates of those whose influence on your 
character is felt to be good. Some men love to tell extravagant 
stories, to indulge in vulgar wit, to exult in a swaggering car- 
riage, to pride themselves on their coarse manners, "to boast of 
their heroism, and to give utterance to feelings of revenge against 
the enemy. All this is injurious to young and impressible minds. 
If you admire such things, you will insensibly imitate them, and 
imitation will work gradual but certain detriment to your char- 
acter. Other men are refined without being affected. They can 
relax into occasional pleasantries, without violating modesty. 
They can be loyal to their government without indulging private 
hatred against her foes. They can be cool and brave in battle, 
and not be braggarts in the absence of danger. Above all, they 
can be humble, spiritual, and active Christians, and yet mingle in 
the stirring and perilous duties of soldier life. Let these be your 
companions and models. You will thus return from the dangers 
of camp without a blemish on your name. 

" 5- Should it be your lot to enter into an engagement with the 
enemy, lift up your heart in secret ejaculations to the ever-present 



30 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

and good Being, that He will protect you from sudden death ; or, 
if you fall, that He will receive your departing spirit, cleansed in 
the blood of Jesus, into His kingdom. It is better to trust in the 
Lord than to put confidence in princes. Commit your eternal 
interests, therefore, to the keeping of the Almighty Saviour. 
You should not, even in the hour of deadly conflict, cherish per- 
sonal rage against the enemy, any more than an officer of the 
law hates the victim of the law. How often does a victorious 
army tenderly care for the dead and wounded of the vanquished. 
War is a tremendous scourge which Providence sometimes uses 
to chastise proud and wicked nations. Both parties must suffer, 
even though one may get the advantage. There is no occasion, 
then, for adding to the intrinsic evils of the system the odious 
feature of animosity to individuals. In the ranks of the foe are 
thousands of plain men who do not understand the principles for 
which we are struggling. They are deceived by artful demagogues 
into a posture of hostility to those whom, knowing, they would 
love. It is against such men that you may perhaps be arrayed, 
and the laws of war do not forbid you to pity them, even in the 
act of destroying them. It is more important that lue should 
exhibit a proper temper in this unfortunate contest, because 
many professed Christians and ministers of the Gospel at the 
North are breathing out, in their very prayers and sermons, 
threatenings and slaughter against us ! Oh ! how painful that a 
gray-headed pastor should publicly exclaim, */ would Jiang them 
as soon as I ivoitld si wot a viad dog! 

*'6. Providence has placed you in the midst of thoughtless 
and unpardoned men. What a beautiful thing it would be if you 
could win some of them to the Saviour ! Will you not try ? You 
will have many opportunities of speaking a word in season. The 
sick, you may comfort ; the wavering, you may confirm ; the 
backslidden, you may reclaim ; the weary and heavy laden, you 
may point to Jesus for rest to the soul. It is not presumptuous 
for a young man, kindly and meekly, to commend the Gospel to 
his brother soldiers. The hardest of them will not repel a gentle 
approach, made in private. And many of them would doubtless 
be glad to have the subject introduced to them. They desire to 
hear of Jesus, but they lack courage to inquire of his people. 
An unusually large proportion of pious men have entered the 
army, and I trust they will give a new complexion to military 
life. Let them search out each other, and establish a fraternity 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 31 

among all the worshippers of God. To interchange religious 
views and administer brotherly counsel will be mutually edifying. 
* He that watereth shall be watered also himself 

"And now, as a soldier has but little leisure, I will not occupy 
you longer. Be assured that every morning and evening we 
remember you, at the family altar, to our Father in Heaven. 
We pray for a ' speedy, just, and honorable peace,' and for the 
safe return of all the volunteers to their loved homes. All the 
children speak often of brother,' and hear your letters read with 
intense interest. That God Almighty may be your shield and 
your exceeding great reward is the constant prayer of your 
loving father. " Ro. Ryland." 

We clip, without comment, from files of religious newspapers, 
the following items as illustrating the subject of this chapter, 
as well as other phases of soldier-life in the early days of the 
war. 

Hon. J. L. M. Curry, in a letter published by the South-west- 
ern Baptist, states that for two months a weekly prayer-meeting 
has been kept up in Talladega, Alabama. " When the hour 
comes, at 9 o'clock on every Thursday morning, the doors of 
every business house are closed, and the house is usually filled 
with sincere worshippers who congregate to pray for our 
country. The meetings are alternately held in the three church 
houses." 

Says the Oiristian Index: ''Unconverted young men have 
written home that they daily read their Bibles, and are seeking 
preparation for the judgment. Some religious soldiers state 
that such is the pious influence in their companies, they believe 
themseh^es improved instead of injured by the camp. O that 
this could be said of all ! " 

Rev. Dr. Cross writes from the Walker Legion, near Freder- 
icksburg, to the Nashville Oiristian Advocate : "A young man 
who, being slightly unwell, has spent a few days under the hos- 
pitable roof of Rev. Dr. Broaddus in town, returned to camp this 
morning happily converted to God. When I said to one of the 
Edgefield boys it was time for all hands to cease swearing and 
begin praying, he replied : ' I stopped the former when I enlisted, 
and am now trying to practise the latter.' Another, who had 
been very profane at home, has never been known to utter an 
oath since he left Nashville." 



32 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

The Southern Christian Advocate thinks that there is at least 
one advantage for evangeHcal effort in the present aspect of 
affairs. " The only mitigating circumstance of a religious char- 
acter that we find in this dreadful war, into which we have been 
forced, is found in what we believe to be the fact — that it has 
enhanced the religious sentiment in our people. The sense of 
trust in Divine Providence is widespread. We see it exhibited 
where we little thought to find it. Editors, who heretofore have 
manifested no great respect for religion, fiery soldiers who do 
not themselves serve God, writers who ordinarily would not be 
suspected of trusting in anything else than the ' arm of flesh,' 
all acknowledge God's gracious dealings in the events of the few 
past months. It is not unlikely that men have lately prayed to 
whom prayer has been heretofore unknown. And as this feel- 
ing grows more general, as we trust it will, they who have 
kindred exposed, or who may lose their friends in the course of 
the war, may be led to earnest prayer in asking protection for 
others or consolation for themselves." 

In Colonel Ector's regiment from Georgia there are fourteen 
ministers : one Methodist, one Primitive Baptist and twelve Mis- 
sionary Baptists. 

A correspondent of the North Carolina Presbyterian states that 
after a recent sermon to the Third Regiment of North Carolina 
State troops, near Aquia Creek, Virginia, preached by a Meth- 
odist minister belonging to the regiment, some fifteen or twenty 
of the soldiers knelt to indicate anxiety for salvation. 

A writer from the Second Palmetto Regiment to the Sotttherii 
Christian Advocate, says : " God's hand was in the great achieve- 
ment, and I believe that the most irreligious man in our patriot 
army will frankly acknowledge the fact. So evident was it, it is 
believed an improvement has since taken place in the morals of 
our troops. " At least, I can say as much for this regiment. 
Whilst, during the campaign, we have occupied the advanced 
post, the post of honor and danger, and this for weeks, in the 
very face of the enemy, God has given us a grateful sense of 
security, and our religious services have gone on. Even while 
interrupted by the booming cannon and bursting shell, lying in 
our trenches, expecting every moment that the storm would 
break in all its fury upon us, we worshipped God." 

A correspondent of the Central Presbyterian expresses the 
opinion that "every Southern Sabbath-school has one living 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 33 

representative at least in this war, and that most schools have 
many." 

A minister thus writes to the Religious Herald: 

^^ Brother Editors: For the encouragement of fathers and 
other friends of our soldiers, I send you the following for the 
Herald: My son, a young man of less than twenty years of 
age, left home early in May with his company of volunteers for 
the seat of war. When he left he was a stranger to God's for- 
giving grace, and so far as I know, was not seriously concerned 
about his condition. I determined to follow him with my 
prayers, if haply the Lord might have mercy upon him. I 
asked three beloved brother-ministers to pray for him. I also 
put the New Testament into his hand, with the request that he 
would read it carefully and prayerfully. He made no promise, but 
I felt sure he would comply with my request. I have seen him 
but once since — a few days after leaving. It was not long before 
he commenced alluding to reading the Scriptures, as he wrote to 
us from week to week, in such a manner as to encourage us to 
hope that the Lord was at work with his heart. Not long after, 
a dear brother — the author of the little tract, 'Are you Ready?' 
addressed to soldiers — sent me a number containing an affection- 
ate address to my dear boy, in pencil lines, with a note to me, 
requesting me to forward it to him, which I did, accompanied by 
the note to me. To the almost overpowering joy of my heart, a 
few days since I received a letter from him containing the fol- 
lowing extract : ' Oh ! what comfort and consolation that tract 
afforded me ; and thank God I can answer, I think, I am ready. 
And I am willing to die for my country. Oh ! what a consolation 
it is to know that so many fervent prayers go up daily for me, 
and that they are answered ! I have great reason to bless and 
praise the blessed God for His great goodness to me. He has 
preserved my life and health, and provided for me so many com- 
forts — many more than He has provided for many others who 
are far more deserving than I am.' "A Father." 

A correspondent of the North Carolina Presbyterian states that, 
as the result of prayer-meetings held every night for two or three 
weeks in the Third Regiment of North Carolina State Troops, 
seven of the soldiers have applied for membership in the Meth- 
odist and four in the Baptist Church. " We sometimes feel 
3 



34 

more as if we were in a camp-meeting than in the army expect- 
ing to meet an enemy." 

A soldier writes to a friend : " I will here state to you what I 

never have written home to E , of the thoughts that have 

most affected my mind, and I hope and trust in God that the 
same thoughts and reflections have changed my manner of life. 

E has doubtless shown you what I call my farewell letter 

to my children while I was at Richmond, Virginia. The advice 
I thought and still think was good; but alas, where does that 
advice come from ? It is from the best friend my children have 
upon earth, a father ; yes, a father, who says : ' My children, 
read your Bibles, abstain from bad company and bad habits, the 
lusts of the flesh and the vanities of a wicked world,' but who 
says at the same time by his own conduct and example, 'Come 
along, children ' — taking them, as it were, by the hand — * I will lead 
you down to hell ; ' yes, I was leading them by my own example 
directly to hell as fast as I possibly could. Oh, the horrible 
thought of being the means of damning the souls of my children ! 
Conviction seized upon me, and ihen and there, on the — th of June, 
I resolved, if God would spare my life, that I would reform my 
habits of life ; or if He would permit me to return home, that I 
would set a different example before my children. I have prayed 
that He would, and that I might keep my resolution to the day 
of my death. I wrote you a letter on the same day, while my 
eyes were still wet with tears. I asked your prayers in my 
behalf; I know you have prayed for me. Can God in justice 
forgive me ? I pray He may ; I know my children will ; may God 
bless them and help them to do so, save them from following 
my bad example, and at the same time to take my good advice 
and carry it out, that they may be saved from that awful hell to 
to which I was leading them." 

A happy transformation is thus described: "There was 
another company whose captain was a wicked man. He exerted 
a bad influence over his men. He was openly profane and never 
attended religious services. In these days the company was 
known as one of the most wicked in the regiment. Months 
rolled away, and another man was appointed to the command. 
He was a consistent Christian, and a man of earnest, deep-toned 
piety. He sought to carry his men to church, and in the 
prayer-meeting strove to lead them to the throne of grace. He 
showed that he cared for their spiritual as well as their physical 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMi:. 35 

interests. Now, mark the change. In that company, once noted 
for wickedness, prayer-meetings were held- every night. Among 
its members are some active, energetic Christians, and some 
happy converts have been made there. How responsible the 
position of an officer." 

A correspondent of the Louisville Courier writes from Vir- 
ginia : " To-day the Second Brigade, to which we are attached, 
was mustered for Divine service. The occasion reminded me 
more of a Baptist Association gathering than anything I have 
seen for a long time. A rustic pulpit was erected beneath the 
shade of the forest trees, and about the clergyman was gathered 
a force of over three thousand men. The good old songs of 
Zion caused the leaves to quiver with a poetic tremulousness, 
and the very air was redolent with heartfelt prayer and praise. 
Our fighting chaplain, Rev. H. A. Tupper, o fthe Ninth Georgia, 
a chaplain in the Confederate army and a Baptist minister at 
home, a lover and defender of civil and religious liberty every- 
where, preached us a very able discourse from the advice of Eli 
to Joshua : * Be ye men of good courage.' It was no war 
philippic, but an earnest, heartfelt. Christian discourse." 

A notice of a revival, in the Nashville Christian Gazette, says: 
"Several volunteers were anxiously inquiring the way of life and 
salvation, and one or two of them embraced religion." A second 
notice : " Several members of Captain Bankhead's company, 
Fifteenth Regiment, Alabama Volunteers, came out on the 
Lord's side." A third : "Among the number converted were 
eight noble-hearted men who had volunteered to defend the 
liberties of their country. You may imagine the lovely scene 
which then transpired : fathers and mothers embracing their 
noble boys, exclaiming, with hearts all illumed by heavenly 
love, * Now we can give you up better satisfied.' " 

Rtv. Dr. Cross writes from the Walker Legion : " The other 
day I visited General Holmes at his quarters. Seeing a pistol 
in my belt, he said: 'What! are you a soldier as well as a 
chaplain ? ' 'A soldier of Christ, general,' I replied. *Ah,' said 
he, 'that is the noblest soldiership! Follow Him closely, serve 
Him faithfully ; there is no way in which you can do so much 
for your country. We have plenty of men to fight, but not half 
enough to pray. May we never forget our dependence upon the 
Divine succor.' These remarks were characteristic. The gen- 
eral is a godly man, and frequently adverts to these matters in 



36 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

conversation with his officers. On the field of Manassas the 
chaplain of one of his regiments approached him in a dress 
which he deemed too military for a clergyman. * Go back, sir/ 
said he, ' this is no place for you ; take off that sash, retire to 
the grove and besiege a Throne of Grace !' " 

Rev. R. W. Cole writes to The Religions Herald'. 

"Caroline County, September 17. 
^^ Messrs. Editors : It was my privilege to spend some three or 
four days with the soldiers embracing Colonel Gary's regiment, 
a short time since, at Marlborough Point. The season was 
truly gloomy — being rainy — but it seemed not to detract from 
the energy and cheerfulness of those noble sons who are sacrific- 
ing for their country's welfare. To speak of the merit of those 
officers and men under Colonel Gary's command is not now my 
design. Suffice it to say, they all appear to be well fitted for 
their respective positions. It was my privilege to distribute 
tracts, which were thankfully received ; also, to address the 
soldiers on the all-important concern of the soul's salvation, for 
three successive nights. It was truly gratifying to see the 
extraordinary good order maintained amongst them during 
religious services. On the second day after my arrival two of 
the soldiers, young men from Caroline, made an open profession 
of Christ, and were buried with Christ in baptism by your 
correspondent in the fair waters leading from the Potomac. 
Visits from our brethren in the ministry to this portion of our 
army will be gratifying and no doubt be hailed with pleasure 
by them. While they need shoes, coats and all the necessaries 
for bodily comfort, they also need spiritual food. May God 
pour out His Spirit upon our soldiers, and scores become the 
subjects of His salvation ! " R. W. C." 

Rev. Mr. Hopkins, of Martinsburg, Virginia, sends ;^5.oo to 
be appropriated to the purchase of tracts for Captain Robert 
White's company, Thirteenth Regiment, Virginia Volunteers. 
It is a thank-offering from a widowed mother, whose son died 
of fever at Winchester, contracted at Manassas. Up to the time 
of leaving home he had not made a profession of faith in Christ, 
although she had long dedicated him to God's service in the 
ministry. But her cause of gratitude now is, that during his 
camp life he evinced so much devotion to reading his Bible, and 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. ' 37 

for some time before his sickness had shown so many signs of 
piety, and died acknowledging his love to the Saviour, and sup- 
ported by this love now " sleeps in Jesus." — Central Presbyterian. 

Dr. Cross, chaplain of the Walker Legion, writes to one of 
his church papers : '* It is interesting to see how they flock to 
our nightly prayer-meetings, frequently in greater numbers than 
your Sabbath congregations in some of your city churches. I 
preach to them twice on the Lord's day, seated around me on 
the ground, officers and all, in the most primitive order you can 
imagine. But the most interesting, probably the most useful 
part of my work, is the visitation of the sick. Every morning I 
go to the hospital, visiting the several apartments successively ; 
in each of which I talk privately with the men, then read a 
passage of Scripture, make some remarks upon it, and finish 
with prayer. However wicked and thoughtless they are in 
camp they are all glad to see the chaplain when they are sick, 
and I have yet to meet one who is not most respectful and 
attentive. / tliink I have never occupied afield that afforded such 
an opportnnity for iiseftdness!' 

A soldier wrote for the Sonthern Clmrchman the following : 

"A Guardian Spirit passed through a group of soldiers who lay 
stretched on the ground, some exchanging together in broken 
converse such thoughts as their situation suggested, some in the 
deep slumber of weariness, forgetting both danger and toil. Un- 
challenged by the watchful sentinel he approached one manly 
form extended on the ground and gazed with interest on the 
sunburnt features and the thoughtful, sunken eye which was 
fixed on the descending sun. 

''Soldier. — That sun which is setting on us in such full glory 
is now smiling on my own sweet home, casting its slanting 
beams upon the daisy-spangled meadow where my little ones 
are at play ; on the rich green wheat-fields and many-colored 
orchards ; and shining on the peaceful village churchyard, 
where my bones may never be laid. How those dear hearts at 
home are thinking of us now ! How many prayers are daily 
offered for our safety ! But the bright eyes may soon be bathed 
in tears; the fond hearts be wrung with sorrow! O God! my 
God ! Thou knowest that I can face death — face it firmly, fear- 
lessly ; but my soul quails at the thought of what others will 
suffer ! Who will comfort my broken-hearted moUier ? Who 
will take care of my precious orphan babes ? 



38 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

" Spirit. — He who hath said, ' Leave thy fatherless children; I 
will preserve them alive ; and let thy widows trust in me.' 

" Soldier. — There is strong comfort in resting all on His prom- 
ises, committing all to His care. It is in an hour like this that we 
prove the support and solace of religion. When we look on the 
sinking sun with more than a doubt that we shall ever behold it 
rise again ; when there is none of the excitement of conflict, the 
eager rush to the attack, the hope of triumph, the certainty of 
honor, to stir up all the natural ardor which glows in the breast 
of man — but the probability of death coming in the confusion of 
a night attack — then is the hour when we cling to the thought 
of a protecting Father and a guiding Saviour, as a drowning 
man clings to the one plank which supports him in a wild and 
stormy sea. 

''Spirit. — And you can hold fast this confidence in your God ? 

''Soldier. — ' The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom 
shall I fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall 
I be afraid ? ' 

"Spirit. — You can resign yourself into His hand, for life or for 
death ? 

" Soldier. — * Whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and 
whether we die, we die unto the Lord ; whether we live, there- 
fore, or die, we are the Lord's.' 

"Spirit.- — Yes, it matters little to the Christian whether, with 
the snows of age on his head, he descends quietly into the waters 
of death, accompanied to the brink by loving friends ; or, in his 
prime, clears the deep, narrow stream with one bound, exchanging 
in an instant the desperate struggle, confused noises and garments 
rolled in blood, for the sudden hallelujah and the changeless 
peace of the skies ! The darker the conflict the brighter the 
transition. 

"Soldier. — The bullet or the steel bears the message of God, 
and He sends no message to His servants that bears not on it the 
seal of love. 

"Spirit. — Faith sees that love in all things. Should this night 
indeed be your last, you can say, ' I have fought a good fight, I 
have finished my course, I have kept the faith ; henceforth there 
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the 
righteous judge, shall give me at that day.' 

" Soldier. — The words of the holy apostle are not for a sinner 
Hke me. As one said of old, * I lay both my good deeds and 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 39 

my evil deeds together, and flee from them to my Saviour, * * I 
know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able 
•to keep that which I have committed to Him.' Confiding in His 
merits. His merits alone, now in this solemn time of danger, ' I 
will both lay me down and sleep ; for thou. Lord, only makest me 
to dwell in safety.' ' Yea, though I walk through the valley of 
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil ; for thou art with me.' Wak° 
ing or sleeping, living or dying, keep me, my God, for I am thine ! 

*' Darkness shrouded the earth ; the heavy eyelids closed, and 
on that hard, rude couch slumber, calm and peaceful as an infant's, 
fell on the weary man." 

An officer in the army of the Rappahannock, writes 
from Camp Anderson (Caroline) : " I am happy to state that we 
hold prayer-meetings every night, when the weather permits ; 
and that the sweet incense of prayer and the voice of praise 
rise up to the Father of spirits and wielder of nations' des- 
tinies. It is particularly soul-cheering to me, in the midst 
of the profanity and blasphemy of the camp, to find so many 
fervent Christians, whose faith, hope and charity, being tested, 
are more fully developed. There are, perhaps, a dozen offi- 
cers, out of about thirty, who have named the name of Jesus; 
and they and hundreds of the men bow down together at the 
same altar and cry unto our common Father." 

Says the Southern Presbyterian : "It was remarked by a dis- 
tinguished son of Georgia, lately a member of Congress, now an 
officer in our army, in a public address to the citizens of a neigh- 
boring town, that when the war commenced he had many fears 
respecting the demoralizing effect on our young men of a life in 
the camp, but that personal observation in some of the camps 
had greatly relieved his anxiety on that score, and that he knew 
of many instances in which our soldiers had been converted 
since they had gone into the army." 

D. W. Chambers writes to the Biblical Recorder that seven 
weeks ago a religious association for the promotion of morality 
and piety was formed in the Thirty-seventh Regiment, North 
Carolina troops, at the instance of the chaplain and with the aid 
of the coloneL F: numbers 132 members, belonging to some 
seven or eight denominations. Fifty-five soldiers have asked the 
prayers of their believing associates, and five have found relief 
in the Saviour's blood. " Our chaplain and colonel/^ he says, 
" are, with many good brethren, ministering spirits throughout 
our camp." 



40 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

A writer in the Southern Presbyterian says : " When Lincoln's 
war-cry rang along our valleys and our mountains, the students 
of this college, with their Greek professor for their captain, 
exchanged those classic walls for the tented field. On the 
day of the Manassas battle, they were forty-five in number — of 
these five fell slain upon the field, two more were mortally 
wounded, and others slightly. About the same time others died 
from disease. Thus, in one vacation, this college has cheerfully 
sacrificed one-fifth of its fighting force in defence of its country." 

" Of the North Carolina soldiers now in Virginia, some thirty 
were baptized recently by Rev. W. F. Broaddus, D. D., of Fred- 
ericksburg, and six by Brother Bagby, chaplain of the Fortieth 
Virginia Regiment." 

A correspondent writes to the Southern Churchman from Head- 
quarters Artillery, Camp Pendleton, near Centreville : " Our 
chapel is completed, ajid last Sunday was well filled. Colonel 
Pendleton preached on prayer, a most useful sermon. In the after- 
noon a general prayer-meeting was held. There are many pious 
and influential Christian men in this corps, who I trust will make 
their lives tell powerfully for Christ and His religion. Many of 
God's people enjoy religion now as they never did before, because 
the Holy Spirit draws manifestly near, and is preparing, I hope, 
a great blessing for us. Some of the officers pray with their 
men at morning roll-call ; others meet with them in the cabin at 
night. Doubt not but, when the fierce struggle for liberty and 
life is renewed upon this famous ground, many will go forth from 
the closet of communion with God, strengthened from on high. 
The vices which, alas, too commonly hang upon our armies, such 
as Sabbath-breaking, profanity, drunkenness and gambling, are, 
I can with candor and gratitude say, the exception in this 
corps." 

A soldier writes as follows : 

" I belonged to a Virginia regiment, engaged in active service 
in the mountains, far away from friends and home. I was sur- 
rounded by wicked and thoughtless companions, who spent their 
time in gaming, drinking, and frivolous conversations. I had, in 
by-gone years, been impressed with the necessity and importance 
of religion, but my serious impressions were gone, and I was now 
ashamed to acknowledge they had ever existed. Early Sabbath 
morning I was sent out with a scouting party many miles from 
camp, and, ere we were aware of their approach, we were sur- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 41 

rounded by a large body of Federal troops. A desperate battle 
ensued, during which I was cut off from my comrades and badly 
wounded in my hip. I concealed myself under a rock, and there 
lay for several hours meditating upon my sad and hapless fate. 
Wearied and exhausted by loss of blood, I fell asleep and was 
soon in the land of dreams. I thought myself again at my 
humble home in the East. But to my sorrow and inexpressible 
grief, my dear mother, during my absence, had been taken sick, 
and, after a brief illness, died. My only sister and two little 
brothers were left alone, in the care of two faithful old negroes, 
and all were clothed in mourning. My sister told me that mother 
spent her last moments in talking about and praying for me. She 
said that our dear mother told her to tell me, should I ever live 
to reach home, * that all of us were poor sinners and rebels against 
God — that we were justly condemned to die, for we had sinned 
against our Heavenly Father, who was our constant friend and 
benefactor, and had never done us an injury; but, on the other 
hand, had given His Son Jesus Christ to die, that we might be 
justified, pardoned, and saved. And if I would only believe that 
God would save me for His Son's sake, and would love that Son, 
that God would love me, forgive all my sins, make me happy ; 
and, though I would never again see her face on earth, I would 
meet her in heaven.' 

" I was so affected by this narrative that I awoke, sobbing like 
a child, and the first expression, which burst from my full heart 
was : ' O God ! give me faith in Thy promises, love for Thy dear 
Son, and an obedient heart, that I may meet Thee and my dear 
mother in Heaven.' I felt at once that I was willing to give up 
all the world for the love of God, that I could trust Him and serve 
Him forever. My heart was light ; I saw God reconciled through 
His Son, and was so Jiappy. I hobbled away to the distant camp. 
I told my comrades what the Lord had done for me, and many a 
hardened sinner wept and gave his heart to Christ, and we made 
the Western mountains ring with shouts of joy to God." 

These extracts might be almost indefinitely multiplied, but the 
above must suffice. 



CHAPTER II. 

INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN OFFICERS. 

NO army, with whose history I am acquainted, at least, was 
ever blessed with so large a proportion of high officers 
who were earnest Christian men, as the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia. 

We had at first such specimens of the Christian soldier as R. 
E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, D. H. Hill, T. R. Cobb, A. H. Col- 
quitt, Kirby Smith, J. E. B. Stuart, W. N. Pendleton, John B. Gor- 
don, C. A. Evans, A. M. Scales, *' Willie " Pegram, Lewis Minor 
Coleman, Thos. H. Carter, Carter Braxton, Charles S. Venable, 
and a host of others too numerous to mention. And during the 
war Generals Ewell, Pender, Hood, R. H. Anderson, Rodes, Pax- 
ton, W. H. S. Baylor, Colonel Lamar, and a number of others 
of our best officers professed faith in Christ 

Nor was the example of these noble men merely negative — 
many of them were active workers for the Master, and did not 
hesitate, upon all proper occasions, to " stand up for Jesus." 

Our Christian President, Jefferson Davis, was always out- 
spoken on the side of evangelical religion, and manifested the 
deepest interest in all efforts for the spiritual good of the soldiers. 
His fast-day and thanksgiving-day proclamations were not only 
beautiful specimens of the chaste style and classic English for 
which this great man is remarkable, but they also breathed a 
spirit of humble, devout piety, which did not fail to have its 
influence on the armies of the Confederacy. 

He said to Rev. A. E. Dickinson, who was then superintendent 
of the Virginia Baptist Colportage Board, which resolved in June, 
1 86 1, to send to labor in the army its band of nearly one hundred 
trained colporters : " I most cordially sympathize with this move- 
ment. We have but little to hope for, if we do not realize our 
dependence upon heaven's blessing and seek the guidance of 
God's truth." 

In his message under date of April 29, 186 1, President Davis 
(42) 



RELIGION IN lee's ARMY. 43 

used this language, as expressive of his sentiments and his 
feelings : 

" We feel that our cause is just and holy ; we protest solemnly 
in the face of mankind that we desire peace at any sacrifice save 
that of honor and independence ; we ask no conquest, no ag- 
grandizement, no concession of any kind from the States with 
which we were lately confederated ; all we ask is to be let alone ; 
that those who never held power over us shall not now attempt 
our subjugation by arms. This we must resist to the direst ex- 
tremity. The moment that this pretension is abandoned the 
sword will drop from our grasp, and we shall be ready to enter 
into treaties of amity and commerce that cannot but be mutually 
beneficial. So long as this pretension is maintained, with a firm 
reliance on that Power which covers with its protection the just 
cause, we will continue to struggle for our inherent right to 
freedom, independence and self-government. 

"Jefferson Davis." 

From his proclamations, which always had the right ring, I 
select the following, which may be taken as specimens of the 
whole : 

"7<? the People of the Confedej'ate States : The termination of 
the Provisional Government offers a fitting occasion again to 
present ourselves in humiliation, prayer and thanksgiving before 
that God who has safely conducted us through our first year of 
national existence. We have been enabled to lay anew the 
foundations of free government, and to repel the efforts of 
enemies to destroy us. Law has everywhere reigned supreme, 
and throughout our wide-spread limits personal liberty and 
private right have been duly honored. A tone of earnest piety 
has pervaded our people, and the victories which we have ob- 
tained over our enemies have been justly ascribed to Him who 
ruleth the universe. We had hoped that the year would have 
closed upon a scene of continued prosperity, but it has pleased 
the Supreme Disposer of events to order it otherwise. We are 
not permitted to furnish an exception to the rule of Divine gov- 
ernment, which has prescribed affliction as the discipline of 
nations as well as of individuals. Our faith and perseverance 
must be tested, and the chastening, which seemeth grievous, will, 



44 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

if rightly received, bring forth its appropriate fruit. It is meet 
and right, therefore, that we should repair to the only Giver of 
all victory and, humbling ourselves before Him, should pray that 
He may strengthen our confidence in His mighty power and 
righteous judgments. Then may we surely trust in Him that 
He will perform His promise and encompass us as with a shield. 
In this trust and to this end, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the 
Confederate States, do hereby set apart Friday, the 28th day of 
February instant, as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer ; 
and I do hereby invite the reverend clergy and the people of 
the Confederate States to repair to their respective places of 
public worship, to humble themselves before Almighty God, and 
pray for His protection and favor for our beloved country, and 
that we may be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of 
all that hate us." 

''To tlic People of the Confederate States: Once more upon the 
plains of Manassas have our armies been blessed by the Lord of 
Hosts with a triumph over our enemies. It is my privilege to 
invite you once more to His footstool ; not now in the garb of 
fasting and sorrow, but with joy and gladness, to render thanks 
for the great mercies received at His hands. A few months since 
and our enemies poured forth their invading legions upon our 
soil. They laid waste our fields, polluted our altars and violated 
the sanctity of our homes. Around our capital they gathered 
their forces, and, with boasting threats, claimed it as already their 
prize. The brave troops which rallied to its defence have ex- 
tinguished these vain hopes, and under the guidance of the same 
Almighty hand, have scattered our enemies and driven them 
back in dismay. Uniting these defeated forces and the various 
armies which had been ravaging our coasts with the army of in- 
vasion in Northern Virginia, our enemies have renewed their 
attempts to subjugate us at the very place where their first effort 
was defeated, and the vengeance of retributive justice has over- 
taken the entire host in a second and complete overthrow. To 
this signal success accorded to our arms in the East has been 
graciously added another equally brilliant in the West. On the 
very day on which our forces were led to victory on the plains 
of Manassas, in Virginia, the same Almighty arm assisted us to 
overcome our enemies at Richmond, in Kentucky. Thus, at 
one and the same time, have the two great hostile armies been 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 45 

stricken down and the wicked designs of our enemies set at 
naught. In such circumstances it is meet and right that as a 
people we should bow down in adoring thankfulness to that 
gracious God who has been our bulwark and defence, and offer 
unto Him the tribute of thanksgiving and praise. In His hand 
is the issue of all events, and to Him should we in an especial 
manner ascribe the honor of this great deliverance : Now, there- 
fore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, do 
issue this, my proclamation, setting apart Thursday, the 1 8th of 
September instant, as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God, 
for the great mercies vouchsafed to our people, and more espe- 
cially for the triumph of our arms at Richmond and Manassas, in 
Virginia, and at Richmond, in Kentucky ; and I do hereby invite 
the people of the Confederate States to meet on that day at their 
respective places of public w^orship, and to unite in rendering 
thanks and praise to God for these great mercies, and to implore 
Him to conduct our country safely through the perils which 
surround us to the final attainment of the blessings of peace and 
security. "Jefferson Davis." 

"March 5, 1863. 
" It is meet that, as a people who acknowledge the supremacy 
of the living God, we should be ever mindful of our dependence 
on Him ; should remember that to Him alone can we trust for 
our deliverance ; that to Him is due devout thankfulness for the 
signal mercies bestowed on us, and that by prayer alone can we 
hope to secure the continued manifestation of that protecting 
care which has hitherto shielded us in the midst of trials and 
dangers. In obedience to His precepts, we have from time to 
time been gathered together with prayers and thanksgiving, and 
He has been graciously pleased to hear our supplications, and to 
grant abundant exhibitions of His favor to our armies and our 
people. Through many conflicts we have now attained a place 
among the nations which commands their respect, and to the 
enemies who encompass us around about and seek our destruc- 
tion the Lord of Hosts has again taught the lesson of his inspired 
word : * That the battle is not to the strong, but to whomsoever 
He willeth to exalt.' Again our enemy, with loud boasting of 
the power of their armed men and mailed ships, threaten us with 
subjugation, and with evil machinations seek, even in our own 
homes and at our own firesides, to pervert our men-servants and 



46 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

our maid-servants into accomplices of their wicked designs. 
Under these circumstances it is my privilege to invite you once 
more to meet together, and to prostrate yourselves in humble 
supplication to Him who has been our constant and never-failing 
support in the past, and to whose protection and guidance we 
trust for the future. 

" To this end I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate 
States of America, do issue this, my proclamation, setting apart 
Friday, the 27th day of March, as a day of fasting, humiliation 
and prayer; and I do invite the people of the said States to repair 
on that day to their usual places of worship, and to join in prayer 
to Almighty God, that He will graciously restore to our beloved 
country the blessings of peace and security. 

" In faith whereof I have hereunto set my hand at the city of 
Richmond on the twenty-seventh day of February, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three. 

"Jefferson Davis." 

"Again do I call the people of the Confederacy — a people 
who believe that the Lord reigneth, and that His overruling 
Providence ordereth all things — -'to unite in prayer and humble 
submission under His chastening hand, and to beseech His favor 
on our suffering country. It is meet that when trials and re- 
verses befall us, we should seek to take home to our hearts and 
consciences the lessons which they teach, and profit by the self- 
examination for which they prepare us. Had not our successes 
on land and sea made us self-confident and forgetful of our re- 
liance on Him? Had not the love of lucre eaten like a gangrene 
into the very heart of the land, converting too many among us into 
worshippers of gain and rendering them unmindful of their duty 
to their country, to their fellow-men, and to their God ? Who, 
then, will presume to complain that we have been chastened or 
to despair of our just cause and the protection of our Heavenly 
Father? Let us rather receive in humble thankfulness the lesson 
which He has taught in our recent reverses, devoutly acknowl- 
edging that to Him, and not to our feeble arms, are due the honor 
and the glory of victory ; that from Him, in His paternal provi- 
dence, comes the anguish of defeat, and that, whether in victory 
or defeat, our humble supplications are due at His footstool. 
Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of these Confederate 
States, do issue this, my proclamation, setting apart Friday, the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 47 

2 1 St day of August ensuing, as a day of fasting, humiliation and 
prayer ; and I do hereby invite the people of the Confederate 
States to repair on that day to their respective places of public 
worship, and to unite in supplication for the favor and protection 
of that God who has hitherto conducted us safely through all the 
dangers that environed us. " Jefferson Davis." 

** The Senate and House of Representatives of the Confederate 
States of America have signified their desire that a day may be 
set apart and observed as a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer, 
in the following language, to wit : ' Reverently recognizing the 
Providence of God in the affairs of man, and gratefully remem- 
bering the guidance, support and deliverance granted to our 
patriot fathers in the memorable war which resulted in the inde- 
pendence of the American Colonies, and now reposing in Him 
our supreme confidence and hope in the present struggle for 
civil and religious freedom, and for the right to live under a gov- 
ernment of our own choice, and deeply impressed with the con- 
viction that without Him nothing is strong, nothing wise and 
nothing enduring ; in order that the people of this Confederacy 
may have the opportunity, at the same time, of offering their 
adoration to the great Sovereign of the Universe, of penitently 
confessing their sins and strengthening their vows and purposes 
of amendment in humble reliance upon His gracious and al- 
mighty power : The Congress of the Confederate States of America 
do resolve^ That Friday, the 8th day of April next, be set apart 
and observed as a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer, that 
Almighty God would so preside over our public counsels and 
authorities ; that He would inspire our armies and their leaders 
with wisdom, courage and perseverance ; and so manifest Him- 
self in the greatness of His goodness and majesty of His power, 
that we may be safely and successfully led, through the chasten- 
ing to which we are being subjected, to the attainment of an 
honorable peace ; so that while v/e enjoy the blessings of a free 
and happy government we may ascribe to Him the honor and 
the glory of our independence and prosperity.' A recommenda- 
tion so congenial to the feelings of the people will receive their 
hearty concurrence ; and it is a grateful duty to the Executive to 
unite with their representatives in inviting them to meet in the 
courts of the Most High. Recent events awaken fresh gratitude 
to the Supreme Ruler of nations. Our enemies have suffered 



48 

repeated defeats, and their nefarious scheme to burn and plunder 
our capital, and to destroy our civil government by putting to 
death the chosen servants of the people, has been baffled and set 
at naught. Our armies have been strengthened ; our finances 
promise rapid progress to a satisfactory condition, and our whole 
country is animated with a hopeful spirit and a fixed determina- 
tion to achieve independence. In these circumstances it becomes 
us, with thankful hearts, to bow ourselves before the throne of 
the Most High, and while gratefully acknowledging so many 
mercies, confess that our sins as a people have justly exposed us 
to His chastisement. Let us recognize the sufferings which we 
have been called upon to endure as administered by a Fatherly 
hand for our improvement, and, with resolute courage and patient 
endurance, let us wait on Him for our deliverance. In further- 
ance of these objects, now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President 
of the Confederate States of America, do issue this, my proclama- 
tion, calling upon the people of the said States, in conformity 
with the desire expressed by their representatives, to set apart 
Friday, the 8th day of April, as a day of humiliation, fasting and 
prayer, and I do hereby invite them on that day to repair to 
their several places of public worship, and beseech Almighty God 
* to preside over our public counsels, and so inspire our armies 
and leaders with wisdom, courage and perseverance; and so 
to manifest Himself in the greatness of His goodness, and in the 
majesty of His power, that we may secure the blessings of an 
honorable peace, and of free government; and that we, as a 
people, may ascribe all to the honor and glory of His name.' 

" Jefferson Davis." 

Not simply in his official station, but in his private life and in- 
fluence as well, Mr. Davis was pronounced in his Christian char- 
acter, and no one who has seen him, as it has been my privilege 
to do, in the freedom of his beautiful home at Beauvoir, and 
heard him talk of the struggles of the past, the trials of the 
present, and the hopes of the future, can doubt for a mom.ent 
that his faith is built on " the rock Christ Jesus," and that he 
has for years taken Jesus as ''the man of his counsel " and the 
guide of his life. 

General R. E. Lee, the great commander of the Army of 
Northern Virginia from June, 1862, to the surrender at Appo- 
mattox Court House, was one of the noblest specimens of the 
Christian soldier that the world ever saw. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 49 

In this age of hero-worship there is a tendency to exalt unduly 
the virtues of great men, to magnify the religious character of 
one professing to be a Christian, and even to manufacture 
" Christians " out of those of notoriously irreligious lives. This 
is so well understood that there may be with those who never 
came in contact with this great man a lingering doubt as to the 
genuineness of his piety — a fear that with him, as with so many 
others, his profession of religion was merely nominal. A few 
incidents, culled from the many that might be given, will serve 
to dissipate any such impression, and to show beyond all cavil 
that with General Lee vital godliness was a precious reality. 

I can never forget my first interview and conversation with 
General Lee on religious matters. It was in February, 1864, 
while our army was resting along the Rapidan, Rev. B. T. Lacy 
and myself went, as a committee of our Chaplains' Association, 
to consult him in reference to the better observance of the Sabbath 
in the army, and especially to urge that something be done to 
prevent irreligious officers from converting Sunday into a grand 
gala day for inspections, reviews, etc. It was a delicate mission. 
We did not wish to appear as either informers or officious inter- 
meddlers, and yet we were very anxious to do something to further 
the wishes of those who sent us, and to put a stop to what was 
then a growing evil and, in some commands, a serious obstacle 
to the efficient work of the chaplain. The cordial greeting which 
he gave us, the marked courtesy and respect with which he lis- 
tened to what we had to say and expressed his warm sympathy 
with the object of our mission, soon put us at our ease. But as 
we presently began to answer his questions concerning the spirit- 
ual interests of the army, and to tell of that great revival which 
was then extending through the camps, and bringing thousands 
of our noble men to Christ, we saw his eye brighten and his 
whole countenance glow with pleasure ; and as, in his simple, 
feeling words, he expressed his delight, we forgot the great war- 
rior, and only remembered that we were communing with an 
humble, earnest Christian. 

In July, 1862, he had issued a general order to the army in 
which he said : '* Habitually all duties except those of inspection 
will be suspended during Sunday, to afford the troops rest and 
to enable them to attend religious services." 

The day after our interview he issued the following : 



50 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 



Head-quarters, Army of 1 



Northern Virginia, February 7, 1864. 
" General Order No. 1 5 . 

** I. The attention of the army has already been called to the 
obligation of a proper observance of the Sabbath; but the sense 
of its importance, not only as a moral and religious duty, but as 
contributing to the personal health and well-being of the troops, 
induces the commanding general to repeat the orders on that 
subject. He has learned with great pleasure that in many bri- 
gades convenient houses of worship have been erected, and 
earnestly desires that every facility consistent with the require- 
ments of discipline shall be afforded the men to assemble them- 
selves together for the purpose of devotion. 

" II. To this end he directs that none but duties strictly neces- 
sary shall be required to be performed on Sunday, and that the 
labor, both of men and animals, which it is practicable to antici- 
pate or postpone, or the immediate performance of which is not 
essential to the safety, health or comfort of the army, shall be 
suspended on that day. 

**III. Commanding officers will require the usual inspections 
on Sunday to be held at such time as not to interfere with the 
attendance of the men on divine service at the customary hour 
in the morning. 

" They will also .give their attention to the maintenance of 
order and quiet around the place of worship, and prohibit any- 
thing that may tend to disturb or interrupt religious exercises. 

*' R. E. Lee, General." 

As we were about to leave his tent, Mr. Lacy said : *' I think 
it right that I should say to you, general, that the chaplains of 
this army have a deep interest in your welfare, and that some of 
the most fervent prayers we offer are in your behalf" The old 
hero's face flushed, tears started in his eyes, and he replied, with 
choked utterance and deep emotion : " Please thank them for 
that, sir — I warmly appreciate it. And I can only say that I am 
nothing but a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone for salvation, 
and need all of the prayers they can offer for me." 

He never failed to attend preaching when his duties did not 
absolutely preclude his doing so. Nor was he a mere listless 
attendant. The simple truths of the Gospel had no more atten- 
tive listener than General Lee; and his eye would kindle and 




GENERAL LEE AT THE SOLDIERS' PRAYER-MEETING. 
Christ ill the Camp."— Page 51. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 51 

his face glow under the more tender doctrines of grace. He 
used frequently to attend preaching at Jackson's head-quarters ; 
and it was a scene which a master-hand might have delighted to 
paint — those two great warriors, surrounded by hundreds of 
their officers and men, bowed in humble worship before the God 
and Saviour in whom they trusted. 

General Lee always took the deepest interest in the work of 
his chaplains and the spiritual welfare of his men. He was a 
frequent visitor at the chaplains' meetings, and a deeply inter- 
ested observer of their proceedings ; and the faithful chaplain, 
who stuck to his post and did his duty, could be always assured 
of a warm friend at head-quarters. 

While the Army of Northern Virginia confronted General 
Meade at Mine Run, near the end of November, 1863, and a 
battle was momentarily expected, General Lee, with a number 
of general and staff officers, was riding down his line of battle, 
when, just in rear of General A. P. Hill's position, the cavalcade 
suddenly came upon a party of soldiers engaged in one of those 
prayer-meetings which they so often held on the eve of battle. 
An attack from the enemy seemed imminent — already the sharp- 
shooting along the skirmish-line had begun — the artillery was 
belching forth its hoarse thunder, and the mind and heart of the 
great chieftain were full of the expected combat. Yet, as he 
saw those ragged veterans bowed in prayer, he instantly dis- 
mounted, uncovered his head and devoutly joined in the simple 
worship. The rest of the party at once followed his example, 
and those humble privates found themselves leading the devo- 
tions of their loved and honored chieftain. 

It is related that as his army wa"^ crossing the James, in 1864, 
and hurrying on to the defence of Petersburg, General Lee 
turned aside from the road and, kneeling in the dust, devoutly 
joined a minister present in earnest prayer that God would give 
him wisdom and grace in the new stage of the campaign upon 
which he was then entering. 

Rev. Dr. T. V. Moore gave the following in his memorial 
sermon : 

"About the middle of the war, when the horizon looked very 
dark, I spent an evening with him, at the house of a friend, and 
he was evidently, in spite of his habitual self-command, deeply 
depressed. Happening to be alone with him, as we parted for 
the night, I endeavored to cheer him with the fact that so many 



52 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

Christian people were praying for him. I shall never forget the 
emphasis with which he grasped my hand as, with a voice and 
eye that betrayed deep emotion, he assured me that it was not 
only his comfort, but his only comfort, and declared the simple 
and absolute trust that he had in God, and God alone, as his 
helper in that terrible struggle. Another incident impressed me 
still more, because it brought out a most beautiful trait in his 
character. No one ever rendered him a service, however 
humble, that was not instantly and gratefully acknowledged, 
however lowly the person might be. During the summer of 
1864, after he had been holding at bay the tremendous forces 
of General Grant for long weeks, retreating step by step, as he 
was outflanked by overwhelming numbers, until he reached the 
neighborhood of Cold Harbor, I had occasion to render him a 
slight service, so slight that, knowing at the time that he was 
sick, and overburdened with the great responsibilities of his 
arduous and continually menaced position, I never expected it 
to be acknowledged at all ; but, to my surprise, I received a 
letter thanking me for this trivial service, and adding : ' I thank 
you especially that I have a place in your prayers. No human 
power can avail us without the blessing of God, and I rejoice to 
know that, in this crisis of our affairs, good men everywhere are 
supplicating Him for His favor and protection.' He then added 
a postscript, which most touchingly exhibited his thoughtful 
and tender recollection of the troubles of others, even in that 
hour when all his thoughts might be supposed to be absorbed 
by his vast responsibilities as the leader of the Army of North- 
ern Virginia." 

Not long before the evacuation of Petersburg, I was one day 
on the lines not far above Hatcher's Run, busily engaged in 
distributing tracts and religious newspapers, which the soldiers 
were eagerly crowding around to get, when I saw a large caval- 
cade approaching. As they drew near I recognized Generals 
Lee, A. P. Hill, Gordon, Heth and several other generals, who, 
accompanied by a large staff, were inspecting the lines. I 
stepped aside to let the cavalcade pass, but the keen eye of Gor- 
don recognized and his cordial grasp detained me while he 
eagerly inquired about my work. General Lee reined in his 
noble steed ('* Traveller," whom we all remember so well) and 
joined in the conversation, the rest all gathered around, and the 
humble tract distributer found himself the centre of a group 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 53 

whose names and deeds shine on the brightest pages of the his- 
tory they contributed so much to make. 

My old colonel, now Lieutenant-General A. P. Hill, and one 
of the most accomplished soldiers, as well as one of the most 
high-toned gentlemen whom the war produced, pleasantly asked 
of me, as he gave me a hearty greeting, " John " (as he always 
familiarly called me), " don't you think the boys would prefer 
* hard-tack ' to tracts just now ? " 

** I have no doubt that many of them would," I replied ; " but 
they crowd around and take the tracts as eagerly as they sur- 
round the commissary, when he has anything to * issue,' and, be- 
sides other advantages, the tracts certainly help them to bear the 
lack of ' hard-tack.' " 

" I have no doubt of it," he said, " and I am glad you are 
able to supply the tracts more abundantly than we can the ra- 
tions." 

General Lee asked me if I ever had calls for prayer-books 
among the soldiers. I told him that I frequently had, and he 
replied : *' Well, you would greatly oblige me if you would call 
at my quarters and get and distribute a few which I have. I 
bought a new one when in Richmond the other day, and upon 
my saying that I would give my old one, which I had carried 
through the Mexican war and had kept ever since, to some sol- 
dier, the bookseller offered to give me a dozen new prayer-books 
for the old one. I, of course, accepted so good an offer; and 
now I have a dozen to give away instead of one." 

I called at the appointed hour ; the general had been called 
away from his quarters on some important matter, but he had 
(even amid his pressing cares and responsibilities) left the prayer- 
books with a member of his staff, with directions concerning 
them. In each one he had written, in his own well-known 

handwriting, '* Presented to by R. E. Lee." Had / been 

disposed to speculate, I am quite sure that I could easily have 
traded each one of these books containing the autograph of our 
great chieftain for a dozen others, and I know that the soldiers to 
whom I gave them have treasured them as precious mementos, 
or handed them down as priceless heirlooms. (I saw one of 
these books several years ago in the hands of a son whose 
father was killed on the retreat. It was not for sale. Indeed, 
money could not buy it.) 

General Lee's orders and reports always gratefully recognized 



54 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

the " Lord of Hosts " as the " Giver of victory," and expressed 
an humble dependence upon and trust in Him. 

He thus began his dispatch to the President the evening of 
his great victory at Cold Harbor and Gaines's Mill. 

"Head-quarters, June 27, 1862. 
" His Excellency, President Davis : 

''Mr. President: Profoundly grateful to Almighty God for the 
signal victory granted to us, it is my pleasing task to announce 
to you the success achieved by this army to-day." - 

His beautiful general order of congratulation to the troops on 
their series of splendid victories during the seven days' battles 
opened with these memorable words : 

" Head-quarters in the Field, July 7, 1862. 
" General Order No. 75. 

" The commanding general, profoundly grateful to the Giver 
of all victory for the signal success with which He has blessed 
our arms, tenders his warmest thanks and congratulations to the 
army, by whose valor such splendid results have been achieved." 

His dispatch announcing his great victory at Fredericksburg 
contains the brief, but significant sentence — " Thanks be to God!' 

The following extracts from an order which he issued to the 
troops not long after the battle of Fredericksburg show the 
same spirit : 

" Head-quarters, A. N. Va., December 31, 1862. 
''General Order No. 132. 

" The general commanding takes this occasion to express to 
the officers and soldiers of the army his high appreciation of 
the fortitude, valor and devotion displayed by them, which, un- 
der the blessing of Almighty God, have added the victory of 
Fredericksburg to the long list of their triumphs. 

" That this great result was achieved with a loss small in 
point of numbers only augments the admiration with which the 
commanding general regards the prowess of the troops, and in- 
creases his gratitude to Him who hath given us the victory. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 55 

" The signal manifestations of Divine mercy that have distin- 
guished the eventful and glorious campaign of the year just 
closing give assurance of hope that under the guidance of the 
same Almighty hand the coming year will be no less fruitful of 
events that will insure the safety, peace and happiness of our 
beloved country, and add new lustre to the already imperishable 
name of the Army of Northern Virginia. 

'' R. E. Lee, General." 

In his dispatch to President Davis, after Chancellorsville, he 
said : " We have again to thank Almighty God for a great vic- 
tory." 

And in his general orders to his troops he holds this signifi- 
cant language: .... "While this glorious victory entitles you 
to the praise and gratitude of the nation, we are especially called 
upon to return our grateful thanks to the only Giver of victory, 
for the signal deliverance He has wrought. 

" It is, therefore, earnestly recommended that the troops unite, 
on Sunday next, in ascribing unto the Lord of hosts the glory 
due unto His name." 

In closing his general order for the observance of the fast-day 
appointed by President Davis in the spring of 1 863, he makes 
the following earnest appeal : " Soldiers ! No portion of our 
people have greater cause to be thankful to Almighty God than 
yourselves. He has preserved your lives amidst countless dan- 
gers. He has been with you in all your trials. He has given 
you fortitude under hardships, and courage in the shock of bat- 
tle. He has cheered you by the example and by the deeds of 
your martyred comrades. He has enabled you to defend your 
country successfully against the assaults of a powerful oppres- 
sor. Devoutly thankful for signal mercies, let us bow before 
the Lord of hosts, and join our hearts with millions in our land 
in prayer that He will continue His merciful protection over our 
cause ; that He will scatter our enemies and set at naught their 
evil designs, and that He will graciously restore to our country 
the blessings of peace and security." 

He announced the victory at Winchester in the following dis- 
patch : 

"To His Excellency, Jefferson Davis: 

"June 15, 1863. — God has again crowned the valor of our 



56 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

troops with success. Early's Division stormed the enemy's in- 
trenchments at Winchester, capturing their artillery, etc. 

" R. E. Lee." 

His order requiring the observance of the fast-day appointed 
by President Davis in August, 1863, was as follows : 

" Head-quarters, A. N. Va., August 13, 1863. 
''General Order No. 83. 

"The President of the Confederate States has, in the name of 
the people, appointed the 21st day of August as a day of fasting, 
humiliation and prayer. A strict observance of the day is en- 
joined upon the officers and soldiers of this army. All military 
duties, except such as are absolutely necessary, will be suspended. 
The commanding officers of brigades and regiments are re- 
quested to cause divine service, suitable to the occasion, to be 
performed in their respective commands. Soldiers ! we have 
sinned against Almighty God. We have forgotten His signal 
mercies, and have cultivated a revengeful, haughty, and boastful 
spirit. We have not remembered that the defenders of a just 
cause should be pure in His eyes ; that * our times are in His 
hands ; ' and we have relied too much on our own arms for the 
achievement of our independence. God is our only refuge and 
our strength. Let us humble ourselves before Him. Let us 
confess our many sins, and beseech Him to give us a higher 
courage, a purer patriotism and more determined will ; that 
He will convert the hearts of our enemies ; that He will hasten 
the time when war, with its sorrows and sufferings, shall cease, 
and that He will give us a name and place among the nations of 
the earth. " R. E. Lee, General." 

I can never forget the effect produced by the reading of this 
order at the solemn services of that memorable fast-day. A 
precious revival was already in progress in many of the com- 
mands — the day was almost universally observed — the attend- 
ance upon preaching and other services was very large — the 
solemn attention and starting tear attested the deep interest 
felt — and the work of grace among the troops widened and 
deepened and went gloriously on until tliere had been thousands 
of professions of faith in Christ as a personal Saviour. How far 
these grand results were due to this fast-day, or to the quiet in- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 57 

fluence and fervent prayers of the commanding general, eternity 
along shall reveal. 

When General Meade crossed the Rapidan in November, 1863, 
the troops were stirred by the following address : 

" Head-quarters, Army Northern Virginia, 

" November 26, 1863. 
^* General Order No. 102. 

"The enemy is again advancing upon our capital, and the 
country once more looks to this army for protection. Under 
the blessings of God your valor has repelled every previous 
attempt, and invoking the continuance of His favor we cheer- 
fully commit to Him the issue of the coming conflict. 

" A cruel enemy seeks to reduce our fathers and our mothers, 
our wives and our children to abject slavery ; to strip them of 
their property and drive them from their homes. Upon you 
these helpless ones rely to avert these terrible calamities, and 
secure them the blessings of liberty and safety. Your past his- 
tory gives them the assurance that their trust will not be in vain. 
Let every man remember that all he holds dear depends upon 
the faithful discharge of his duty, and resolve to fight and, 
if need be, to die in defence of a cause so sacred, and worthy the 
name won by this army on so many bloody fields. 

" (Signed) R. E. Lee, General." 

I give the following as illustrating not only his trust in God, 
but also his tender solicitude for his soldiers : 

"Head-quarters, A. N. Va., January 22, 1864. 
''General Order No. 7. 

" The commanding general considers it due to the army to state 
that the temporary reduction of rations has been caused by cir- 
cumstances beyond the control of those charged with its support. 
Its welfare and comfort are the objects of his constant and ear- 
nest solicitude ; and no effort has been spared to provide for its 
wants. It is hoped that the exertions now being made will ren- 
der the necessity of short duration : but the history of the army 
has shown that the country can require no sacrifice too great for 
its patriotic devotion. 

" Soldiers ! you tread with no unequal steps the road by which 
your fathers marched through suffering, privation and blood to 
independence ! 



58 

" Continue to emulate in the future, as you have in the past, 
their valor in arms, their patient endurance of hardships, their 
high resolve to be free, which no trial could shake, no bribe se- 
duce, no danger appall : and be assured that the just God, who 
crowned their efforts with success, wall, in His own good time, 
send down His blessing upon yours. 

"(Signed) R. E. Lee, General." 

The following was his order for the observance of the fast-day 
appointed for April, 1864: 

" Head-quarters, A. N. Va., March 30, 1864. 
^^ General Order No. 23. 

" In compliance with the recommendation of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, His Excellency the President has issued 
his proclamation calling upon the people to set apart Friday, the 
8th of April, as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer. The 
commanding general invites the army to join in the observance of 
the day. He directs due preparation to be made in all departments 
to anticipate the wants of the several commands, so that it may 
be strictly observed. All military duties, except such as are 
absolutely necessary, will be suspended. The chaplains are 
desired to hold services in their regiments and brigades. The 
officers and men are requested to attend. 

" Soldiers ! let us humble ourselves before the Lord our God, 
asking through Christ the forgiveness of our sins, beseeching the 
aid of the God of our forefathers in the defence of our homes and 
our liberties, thanking Him for His past blessings, and imploring 
their continuance upon our cause and our people. 

" R. E. Lee, General." 

In his dispatch announcing the result of the first day's battle 
in the Wilderness he says :...." By the blessing of God we 
maintained our position against every effort until night, when the 
contest closed." .... And in his dispatch concerning the 
advance of the enemy on the next day he says :...." Every 
advance on his part, thanks to a merciful God, has been re- 
pulsed." .... 

He closed his dispatch concerning the first day at Spottsyl- 
vania by saymg : " I am most thankful to the Giver of all victory 
that our loss is small." And that concerning the action of June 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 59 

3, 1864, with: " Our loss to-day has been small, and our success 
under the blessing of God all that we could expect" .... 

He closed his announcement of A. P. Hill's brilliant victory 
at Reams's Station, in August, 1864, by saying: . . . "Our 
profound gratitude is due the Giver of all victory, and our thanks 
to the brave men and officers engaged." 

In his order assuming the chief command of all of the Con- 
federate forces he said :....*' Deeply impressed with the 
difficulties and responsibility of the position, and humbly invok- 
ing the guidance of Almighty God, I rely for success upon the 
courage and fortitude of the army, sustained by the patriotism 
and firmness of the people, confident that their united efforts 
under the blessing of Heaven will secure peace and inde- 
pendence." .... 

I give the above only as specimens of his dispatches and gen- 
eral orders, which all recognized in the most emphatic manner 
his sense of dependence upon and trust in God. 

With the close of the war and the afflictions which came upon 
his loved land, the piety of this great man seems to have 
mellowed and deepened, and I could fill pages concerning his 
life at Lexington and the bright evidences he gave of vital, active 
godliness. 

He was a most regular attendant upon all of the services of 
his own church, his seat in the college chapel was never vacant 
unless he was kept away by sickness, and if there was a union 
prayer-meeting, or a service of general interest in any of the 
churches of Lexington, General Lee was sure to be among the 
most devout attendants. 

His pew in his own church was immediately in front of the 
chancel, his seat in the chapel was the second from the pulpit, 
and he seemed always to prefer a seat near the preacher's stand. 
He always devoutly knelt during prayer, and his attitude during 
the entire service was that of an interested listener or a reveren- 
tial participant. 

He was not accustomed to indulge in carping criticisms of 
sermons, but was a most intelligent judge of what a sermon 
ought to be, and always expressed his preference for those 
sermons which presented most simpl}/ and earnestly the soul- 
saving truths of the Gospel. I heard him remark in reference 
to the Baccalaureate sermon preached at the college by Rev. 
Dr. J. A. Broadus : " It was a noble sermon — one of the very 



60 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

best I ever heard — and the beauty of it was that the preacher 
gave our young men the very marrow of the Gospel, and with a 
simple earnestness that must have reached their hearts and done 
them good." 

Upon another occasion a distinguished minister had addressed 
the Young Men's Christian Association of the college, and on 
the next night delivered a popular lecture. Speaking of the 
last, General Lee said : " It was a very fine lecture and I 
enjoyed it. But I did not like it as much as I did the one before 
our Christian Association. That touched our hearts, and did us 
all good." 

He had also a most intelligent appreciation of the adaptation 
of religious services to particular occasions, and of the appropri- 
ateness of prayers to the time and place in which they were 
offered. 

He once said to one of the faculty : " I want you to go with 

me to call upon Mr. , the new minister who has just come to 

town. I want to pay my respects to him, and to invite him to 
take his turn in the conduct of our chapel exercises, and to do 
what he can for the spiritual interests of our young men. 

"And do you think that it would be any harm for me to 

delicately hint to Mr. that we wo-uld be glad if he would 

make his morning prayers a little short? You know our friend 

is accustomed to make his prayers too long. He 

prays for the Jews, the Turks, the heathen, the Chinese and 
everybody else, and makes his prayers run into the regular hour 
for our college recitations. Would it be wrong for me to sug- 
gest to Mr. that he confine his morning prayers to us poor 

sinners at the college, and pray for the Ttu'ks, the Jews, the 
Chhtese and the other heathen some other time ? " 

The suggestion is one which those who lead in public prayer 
would do well to ponder. 

^General Lee was emphatically a man of prayer. He was 
accustomed to pray in his family and to have his seasons of 
secret prayer which he allowed nothing else — however press- 
ing — to interrupt. He was also a constant reader and a diligent 
student of the Bible, and had his regular seasons for this de- 
lightful exercise. Even amid his most active campaigns he 
found time to read every day some portion of God's word. 

As I watched alone by his body the day after his death, I 
picked up from the table a well-used pocket Bible, in which was 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 61 

written, in his characteristic chirography, " R. E. Lee, Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel United States Army." How he took this blessed 
book as the man of his counsel and the light of his pathway — 
how its precious promises cheered him amid the afflictions and 
trials of his eventful life — how its glorious hopes illumined for 
him " the dark valley and shadow of death," eternity alone will 
fully reveal. 

And he always manifested the liveliest interest in giving to 
others the precious Bible. During the war he was an active 
promoter of Bible distribution among his soldiers, and soon after 
coming to Lexington he accepted the presidency of the Rock- 
bridge Bible Society, and continued to discharge its duties up 
to the time of his death. I give his letter accepting this office : 

^^ Gentlemen : I have delayed replying to your letter informing 
me of having been elected President of the ' Rockbridge Bible 
Society,' not for want of interest in the subject, but from an ap- 
prehension that I should not be able to perform the duties of the 
position in such manner as to advance the high object proposed. 
Having, however, been encouraged by your kind assurances, 
and being desirous of co-operating, in any way I can, in extending 
the inestimable knowledge of the priceless truths of the Bible, I 
accept the position assigned me. 

" With many thanks to the society for the high compliment 
paid me by their selection as their president, I am, with great 
respect. Your obedient servant, 

"R. E. Lee. 

" Rev. Dr. Pendleton, ") 
Col. J. T. L. Preston, V Committee." 
Mr. Wm. White, j 

The following paper may be appropriately introduced here : 

"At the meeting of the Board of Managers of the Rockbridge 
County Bible Society, on the 12th inst, for the purpose of im- 
parting to the organization greater efficiency — in addition to other 
important measures adopted and in substance since published — 
the undersigned were appointed a committee to prepare and 
publish a minute, expressing the deep sense which the managers 
and members of this Society have of the exalted worth of their 
last president, the illustrious General R. E. Lee; of the blessed 



62 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

influence which he exerted as a Christian man and in his official 
relation to this cause, and of the grievous loss to us in his re- 
moval, even to celestial joy. 

" The duty is to us most grateful. World-wide and enduring 
as must be the renown of our honored friend for great abilities, 
grandeur of character and achievements, perhaps, in proportion 
to appliances, never surpassed — his crowning glory was, in our 
view, the sublime simplicity of his Christian faith and life. To 
the inviolable dignity of a soul among the noblest of all history 
was in him thoroughly united that guileless, unpretending, gentle 
and yet earnest spirit of a little child, so emphatically designated 
by our Lord as the essential characteristic of his chosen ones. 
These were the traits which, while they justly endeared him to 
children, and friends, and all the people, rendered him prompt to 
every, even the humblest duty, and caused him, although bur- 
dened with weighty cares, to accept the quietly useful task of 
presiding over so inconspicuous a good work as that of the 
Rockbridge County Bible Society. Of the judicious zeal with 
which he undertook this service, evidence conclusive was at once 
given in the wisely simple yet stirring appeal, which he penned 
and sent forth to the several ministers and congregations of the 
county, urging them to renewed energy in remedying' Bible des- 
titution throughout our borders. Well may the friends of this 
cause mourn the loss of such a leader, and record on the tablets 
of their hearts an example so good, as an incentive to their own 
efficiency for the future ! 

" In connection with this testimonial of the society's loving 
estimate of their last president, the undersigned were instructed 
to cause to be published the Appeal above referred to, written by 
General Lee's own hand, of which copies were at the time sent 
to all the ministers and congregations of the county. The 
original remains, a precious memento, in the archives of the 
society. To it, as hereunto subjoined in print, we ask the atten- 
tive consideration due alike to its great author and to the 
important cause for which he pleads. Facts and principles 
bearing on the question are to-day very much as they were 
five years ago, when the mind of this great and good man 
was moved so impressively to put them forth in the following 
circular. 

"Although now resting from his labors, his works do follow 
him ! Shall they not, in this and in other forms, effectually plead 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 63 

with all to be alive to Christian privilege in this matter, and 
faithful to duty therein and in all things ? 

" W. N. Pendleton, ^ 

J. L. Clarke, V Committee." 

J. W. Pratt. j 

** Lexington, Va., January 14, 1869. 

"The Rockbridge County Bible Society, whose operations were 
interrupted and records lost during the war, was reorganized on 
the 5th of last October by representatives of different churches 
of the county, in pursuance of a notice given through the Lex- 
ington Gazette. A new constitution was adopted which provides 
for the reorganization of a Board of Managers, composed of the 
ministers of each church and one representative from each con- 
gregation, appointed by them, to meet at least once a year, on 
the first Saturday in October ; and that the officers of the society 
shall be a President, a Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer, 
and Librarian, who shall constitute the Executive Committee 
of the society. 

''At the meeting mentioned, the officers elected were : 

" R. E. Lee, President. 
• " J. T. L. Preston, Vice-President. 

" Wm. G. White, Secretary and Treasurer. 

" John S. White, Librarian. 

'* In compliance with a resolution of the meeting requesting 
the Executive Committee to take measures to procure a supply 
of Bibles, and to obtain from the congregations of the county 
funds for the purpose, it is respectfully requested that you will 
make, at the earliest and most suitable occasion, a collection in 
your congregation for this object, and cause the amount to be 
transmitted to the treasurer, Mr. Wm. G. White, at Lexington, 
and inform him at the same time, as far as practicable, how many 
copies of the Bible will be required to meet the wants of the con- 
gregation, as the constitution provides that each congregation 
shall mainly conduct the work of their distribution within their 
respective spheres. 

" The revival of the time-honored organization of the Rock- 
bridge Bible Society, it is believed, will fill with pleasure the 
hearts of all good citizens in the county, and the Executive Com- 
mittee earnestly appeal to the churches, their members, and all 
persons interested in the great work of the society, to unite cor- 



64 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

dially and promptly with them for its accomplishment. The 
first object is to supply every family with a copy of the Bible 
that is without it, and as many years have elapsed since there 
has been a distribution of the Holy Scriptures among us, it is 
feared, for reasons that are apparent, that there is at this time a 
great destitution among the people. The united and zealous 
efforts of all the denominations in the county are therefore 
earnestly solicited in aid of this good work. 

" Respectfully submitted, 

" R. E. Lee, 
" President Rockbridge Bible Society. 
" To the Ministers and Churches of the County of Rock- 
bridge, Virginia." 

General Lee was also deeply interested in the Virginia Bible 
Society and their noble work of giving the word of God to the 
people. 

He wrote as follows to the president of that society: 

"Lexington, Virginia, April 5, 1869. 

^' Rev. and Dear Sir: Your letter of first instant was only re- 
ceived this morning. 

** To reach Richmond by to-morrow evening, the anniversary 
of the Bible Society, I should have to ride all to-night to take 
the cars at Staunton to-morrow morning. I am suffering with a 
cold now, and fear the journey would lay me up. 

" I would, however, make the trial, did I think I could be of 
any service to the great object of the society. If the managers 
could suggest any plan, in addition to the abundant distribu- 
tion of the Holy Scriptures, to cause the mass of the people to 
meditate on their simple truths, and, in the language of Wilber- 
force, ' to read the Bible — read the Bible,' so as to become ac- 
quainted with the experience and realities of religion, the 
greatest good would be accomplished. Wishing the society all 
success and continued advancement in its work, 

" I am, with great respect, most truly yours, 

" R. E. Lee." 

" Rev. Geo. Woodbridge, President Virginia Bible Society." 

The following graceful acknowledgment of a copy of the 
Scriptures sent him by some English ladies may be appropri- 
ately introduced at this point : 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 65 

"Lexington, Virginia, April i6, 1866. 
" Hon. A. W. Beresford Hope, 

" Bedgebury Park, Kent, England: 

''Sir: I have received within a few days your letter of the 
14th of November, 1864, and had hoped that by this time it 
would have been followed by the copy of the Holy Scriptures 
to which you refer, that I might have known the generous 
donors, whose names you state are inscribed upon its pages. 

" Its failure to reach me will, I fear, deprive me of that pleas- 
ure ! and I must ask the favor of you to thank them most 
heartily for their kindness in providing me with a book, in com- 
parison with which all others in my eyes are of minor import 
tance ; and which in all my perplexities and distresses has never 
failed to give me light and strength. Your assurance of the 
esteem in which I am held by a large portion of the British na- 
tion, as well as by those for whom you speak, is most grateful 
to my feelings ; though I am aware that I am indebted to their 
generous natures, and not to my own merit, for their good 
opinion. 

" I beg, sir, that you will accept my sincere thanks for the 
kind sentiments which you have expressed towards me, and my 
unfeigned admiration of your exalted character. 

** I am, with great respect, your most obedient servant, 

" (Signed) R. E. Lee." 

General Lee was a most active promoter of the interests of 
his church, and of the cause of Christ in the community ; and 
all of the pastors felt that they had in him a warm friend. 

He was a most liberal contributer to his church and to other 
objects of benevolence. At the vestry meeting, which he at- 
tended and over which he presided the evening he was taken 
with his fatal illness, an effort was being made to raise a certain 
sum for an important object. General Lee had already made an 
exceedingly liberal contribution, but when it was ascertained 
that ;^55 were still lacking, he quietly said, " I will give the bal- 
ance." These were the last words he spoke in the meeting — 
his contribution, his last public act. I happen to know that, 
within the last twelve months of his life he gave ;^ioo to the edu- 
cation of soldiers' orphans, ;^ioo to the Young Men's Christian 
Association of the college and smaller sums to a number of 
similar objects — making, in the aggregate, a most liberal contri- 
5 



66 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

bution. And then, his manner of giving was so modest and 
unostentatious. In giving me a very handsome contribution 
to the Lexington Baptist Church, he quietly said: "Will 
you do me the kindness to hand this to your treasurer, and 
save me the trouble of hunting him up ? I am getting old now, 
and you young men must help me." And his whole manner 
was that of one receiving instead of bestowing a favor. 

General Lee was not accustomed to talk of anything that 
concerned himself, and did not often speak freely of his inner 
religious feelings. Yet he would, when occasion offered, speak 
most decidedly of his reliance for salvation upon the mer- 
its of his personal Redeemer, and none who heard him thus 
talk could doubt for a moment that his faith was built on the 
" Rock of Ages." 

He one day said to a friend in speaking of the duty of labor- 
ing for the good of others : "Ah ! Mrs. P , I find it so hard 

to keep one poor sinner's heart in the right way, that it seems 
presumptuous to try to help others." And yet he did, quietly 
and unostentatiously, speak " a word in season " and exert in- 
fluences potent for good in directing others in the path to heaven. 
He was a " son of consolation " to the afflicted, and his letter- 
book contains some touching illustrations of this. We give 
the following extract from a letter written to an afflicted mother 
on the death, by drowning, of her son (then a student at the 
college) : 

" Lexington, Virginia, April 6, 1868. 

^^ My Dear Madam : It grieves me to address you on a sub- 
ject which has already been announced to you in all of its woe, 
and which has brought to your heart such heavy affliction. 

" But I beg to be permitted to sympathize in your great sor- 
row, and to express to you on the part of the faculty of the 
college their deep grief at the calamity which has befallen you. 
It may be some consolation in your bereavement to know that 
your son was highly esteemed by the officers and students of 
the college, and that this whole community unite in sorrow at 
his untimely death. May God in His mercy support you under 
this grievous trial, and give you that peace which, as it passeth 
all understanding, so nothing in this world can diminish or de- 
stroy it." 

On the death of Bishop Elliott, of Georgia, he wrote the fol- 
lowing letter to his wife : 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 67 

"Lexington, Virginia, February 21, 1867. 
"Mjy Dear Mrs. Elliott: It would be in vain for me to attempt 
to express my grief at your great affliction. In common with 
the whole country, I mourn the death of him whom for more 
than a quarter of a century I have admired, loved and venerated, 
and whose loss to the church and society, where his good offices 
were so important, I can never expect to see supplied. 

" You have my deepest sympathy, and my earnest prayers are 
offered to Almighty God that He may be graciously pleased to 
comfort you in your great sorrow, and to bring you in His own 
good time to rejoice with Him whom in His all-wise Providence 
He has called before you to heaven. 

"With great respect, most truly yours, 

" R. E. Lee." 

The following, to the widow of his cherished friend. General 
Geo. W. Randolph (for a time Confederate Secretary of War), 
will be read with mournful pleasure by the large circle of ad- 
mirers and friends of this gifted and widely lamented Virginian : 

"Lexington, Virginia, April 11, 1867. 

''My Dear Mrs. Randolpli : The letter I received this morning 
from your niece offers me an opportunity of writing to you on a 
subject over which I deeply mourn. But it is the survivors of 
the sad event whom I commiserate, and not him whom a gra- 
cious God has called to Himself; and whose tender heart and 
domestic virtues make the pang of parting the more bitter to 
those who are left behind. I deferred writing, for I knew the 
hopelessness of offering you consolation ; and yet for what other 
purpose can a righteous man be summoned into the presence of 
a merciful God than to receive his reward ? However, then, we 
lament, we ought not to deplore him or wish him back from his 
peaceful, happy home. I had hoped to have seen him once 
more in this world, and had been pleasing myself with the pros- 
pect of paying him a special visit this summer. But God in 
mercy to him has ordered otherwise, and I submit. 

" The recollection of his esteem and friendship will always be 
dear to me, and his kind remembrance in his long and painful 
illness will be gratefully cherished. His worth and truth, his un- 
selfish devotion to right, and his exalted patriotism, will cause all 
men to mourn the country's loss in his death, while his gentle, 



68 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

manly courtesy, dignified conduct, and Christian charity, must 
intensely endear him to those who knew him. 

" Mrs. Lee and my daughters, while they join in unfeigned 
sorrow for your bereavement, unite with me in sincere regards 
and fervent prayers to Him, who can alone afford relief, for His 
gracious support and continued protection to you. May His 
abundant mercies be showered upon you, and may His almighty 
arm guide and uphold you. 

" Please thank Miss Randolph for writing to me. 

" With great respect and true affection, your obedient servant, 

" (Signed) R. E. Lee." 

The following expresses a great deal in brief compass : 

"Lexington, February 28, 1870. 
" Mr. Samuel R. George, 

'' yi Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore, Maryland: 
^^My Dear Sir ; I have learned with deep regret the great 
sorrow that has befallen you, and sincerely sympathize in your 
overwhelming grief But the great God of heaven takes us at 
the period when it is best for us to go, and we can only grate- 
fully acknowledge His mercy and try to be resigned to His will. 
Every beat of our hearts marks our progress through life and 
admonishes us of the steps we make towards the grave. We are 
thus every moment reminded to prepare for our summons. With 
my earnest sympathy for yourself and kindest regards to your 
children, in which Mrs. Lee and my daughters unite, 

" I am most truly yours, 

" R. E. Lee." 

The friendship between General Lee and the venerable Bishop 
Meade, of Virginia (whose efficient labors in the cause of evan- 
gelical piety were widely known and appreciated even outside of 
his own communion), was touchingly beautiful, and the follow- 
ing letter will be read with peculiar interest : 



" Lexington, Virginia, March 7, \\ 
" Rt. Rev. John Johns, Bishop of Virginia, 

" Theological Seminary, near Alexandria, Virginia : 
^'Rt. Rev. and Dear Sir: I am very glad to learn, from your 
note of the 27th ult, that you have consented to write a memoir 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 69 

of our good and beloved Bishop Meade. Of all the men I have 
ever known, I consider him the purest; and a history of his 
character and life will prove a benefit to mankind. No one can 
portray that character, or illustrate that life better than yourself; 
and I rejoice that the sacred duty has devolved upon you. 

" In compliance with your request, I will state as far as my recol- 
lection enables me, the substance of what occurred in the short 
interview I had with him the evening before his death ; and I do 
so the more readily, as you were present and can correct the in- 
accuracies of my memory. I received a message about dark that 
the bishop was very ill, and desired to see me. On entering his 
room he recognized me at once, and extending his hand said, 
that his earthly pilgrimage was nearly finished, and that before 
the light of another day he should have passed from this world. 
That he had known me in childhood, when I recited to him the 
church catechism taught me by my mother before I could read ; 
that his affection and interest began at that time and strengthened 
by my marriage with his godchild, and continued to the present. 
Invoking upon me the guidance and protection of Almighty God, 
he bade me a last farewell. 

" With kindest regards to Mrs. Johns and your daughters, I 
am most truly yours, 

- . « (Signed) R. E. Lee." 

A clergyman present, in describing the last interview, states 
that the bishop said to the great soldier : '' God bless you ! God 
bless you, Robert, and fit you for your high and responsible 
duties. I can't call you ' General,' I must call you ' Robert; ' I 
have heard you your catechism too often." 

General Lee was deeply affected by the interview, and when 
he turned to leave the room, the bishop, much exhausted and 
with great emotion, took him by the hand and said : " Heaven 
bless you ! Heaven bless you ! and give you wisdom for your 
important and arduous duties." 

On the death of Randolph Fairfax, who fell at Fredericksburg, 
General Lee, who highly appreciated the manly virtues of this 
young soldier of the cross, wrote the following letter to his be- 
reaved father : 

"Camp Fredericksburg, December 28, 1862. 

^^ My Dear Doctor : I have grieved most deeply at the death of 
your noble son. I have watched his conduct from the commence- 



70 



CHRIST 



ment of the war, and have pointed with pride to the patriotism, 
self-denial and manliness of character he has exhibited. I had 
hoped an opportunity would occur for the promotion he deserved; 
not that it would have elevated him, but have shown that his 
devotion to duty was appreciated by his country. 

" Such an opportunity would undoubtedly have occurred; but 
he has been translated to a better world, for which his purity and 
piety eminently fitted him. You do not require to be told how 
great is his gain. It is the living for whom I sorrow. I beg 
you will offer to Mrs. Fairfax and your daughters my heartfelt 
sympathy, for I know the depth of their grief That God may 
give you and them strength to bear this great affliction, is the 
earnest prayer of your early friend, 

" R. E. Lee. 

" Dr. Orlando Fairfax, Richmond." 

On the death of his personal friend, George Peabody, General 
Lee wrote the following to Mr. Peabody Russell : 

"Lexington, Virginia, November lo, 1869. 

"My Dear Mr. Russell : The announcement of the death of 
your uncle, Mr. George Peabody, has been received with the 
deepest regret wherever his name and benevolence are 
known : and nowhere have his generous deeds, restricted to no 
country, section, or sect, elicited more heartfelt admiration than 
at the South. 

" He stands alone in history for the benevolent use and judi- 
cious distribution of his great wealth, and his memory has be- 
come justly entwined in the affections of millions of his fellow- 
citizens in both hemispheres. 

" I beg in my own behalf, and in behalf of the trustees and 
faculty of Washington College, Virginia, which has not been for- 
gotten by him in his acts of generosity, to tender our unfeigned 
sorrow at his death. With great respect, your obedient servant, 

'' R. E. Lee." 

Upon the death of Professor Frank Preston, of William and 
Mary College, General Lee issued the following announcement : 

"Washington College, November 23, 1869. 
" The death of Professor Frank Preston, a distinguished gradu- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 71 

ate and late assistant professor of Greek in this college, has caused 
the deepest sorrow in the hearts of the faculty and members of 
the institution. 

'' Endowed with a mind of rare capacity, which had been en- 
riched by diligent study and careful cultivation, he stood among 
the first in the State in his pursuit in life. 

" We who so long and so intimately possessed his acquaintance, 
and so fully enjoyed the privilege of his companionship, feel 
especially his loss and grieve profoundly at his death ; and we 
heartily sympathize with his parents and relatives in their great 
affliction, and truly participate in the deep sorrow that has be- 
fallen them. 

" With a view of testifying the esteem felt for his character and 
the respect due to his memory, all academic exercises will be 
suspended for the day; and the faculty and students are re- 
quested to attend, in their respective bodies, his funeral services 
at the Presbyterian Church, at 1 1 o'clock, to pay the last sad 
tribute of respect to his earthly remains, while cherishing in 
their hearts his many virtues. 

" R. E. Lee, President." 

The above was written, currente calmno, immediately on his 
hearing of the death of Professor Preston, whom he most highly 
esteemed, not only as an accomplished scholar and high-toned 
gentleman, but as one who had been a gallant Confederate soldier 
and wore till his death a badge of honor in the " empty sleeve " 
that hung at his side. 

We also give the following extracts from a letter to Rev. Dr. 
Moses D. Hoge, of the Presbyterian Church, Richmond, soon 
after the death of his wife. After writing of a number of matters 
connected with the interests of the Viriginia Bible Society, he 
concludes as follows : 

" And now, my dear sir, though perhaps inappropriate to the 
occasion, you must allow me to refer to a subject which has 
caused me great distress and concerning which I have desired 
to write ever since its occurrence ; but, to tell the truth, I have 
not had the heart to do so. I knew how powerless I was to give 
any relief and how utterly inadequate was any language that I 
could use even to mitigate your suffering. 

" I could, therefore, only offer up my silent prayers to Him 



72 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

who alone can heal your bleeding heart, that in His infinite, 
mercy He would be ever present with you — to dry your tears 
and staunch your wounds ; to sustain you by His grace and sup- 
port you by His strength. 

"I hope you felt assured that in this heavy calamity you and 
your children had the heartfelt sympathy of Mrs. Lee and my- 
self, and that you were daily remembered in our prayers. 

" With our best wishes and sincere affection, I am very truly 
yours, 

" R. E. Lee." 

The date of the following letter gives it additional interest. 
The movements of Burnside were developing themselves, and the 
battle of Fredericksburg about to open ; but the charger of the 
great captain must " wait at his tent door " while from a heart as 
tender as that of the gentlest woman he sends these lines of 
affectionate sympathy to a bereaved mother : 

"Camp Fredericksburg, December lo, 1862. . 
" I heard yesterday, my dear daughter, with the deepest sorrow 
of the death of your infant. I was so grateful at her birth. I 
felt that she would be such a comfort to you, such a pleasure 
to my dear Fitzhugh, and would fill so full the void still aching 
in your hearts. But you have now two sweet angels in heaven. 
What joy there is in the thought. What relief to your grief. 
What suffering and sorrow they have escaped. I can say noth- 
ing to soften the anguish you must feel, and I know you are 
assured of my deep and affectionate sympathy. May God give 
you strength to bear the affliction He has imposed and pro- 
duce future joy out of present misery, is my earnest prayer. 

" I saw F yesterday. . He is well and wants much to see 

you. When you are strong enough, cannot you come up to 
Hickoiy Hill, or your grandpa's, on a little visit, where he could 
ride down and see you ? My horse is waiting at my tent door, 
but I could not refrain from sending these few lines to recall to 
you the thought and love of your devoted father, 

" R. E. Lee. 

" Mrs. Wm. H. Fitzhugh Lee." 

Colonel Walter H. Taylor, of his staff, relates (in his admirable 
book, " Four Years With Lee ") that he carried him the letter 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 73 

which told of the death of his daughter Annie, along with 
important official papers, and that the stern soldier suppressed 
his emotion until he could dispatch the business that was then 
most pressing ; but that on going into the tent not long after he 
found him with the letter in his hand, weeping tears of loving 
sorrow. 

In a letter written not long after, he thus alludes to his great 
affliction : ** The death of my dear Annie was indeed to me a 
bitter pang. But the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away ; 
blessed be the name of the Lord. In the hours of night, when 
there is nothing to lighten the full weight of my grief, I feel as 
if I should be overwhelmed. I had always counted, if God 
should spare me a few days of peace after this cruel war was 
ended, that I should have her with me. But year after year my 
hopes go out, and I must be resigned." 

The daughter whose death is so touchingly alluded to in the 
above letter was Miss Annie Carter Lee, who died at Warren, 
White Sulphur Springs, North Carolina, the 20th of October, 
1862. At the close of the war the citizens of the county erected 
over her grave a handsome monument, which was unveiled with 
appropriate ceremonies. In response to an invitation to be 
present. General Lee wrote the following : 

" Rockbridge Baths, July 25, 1866. 

^^ Ladies : I have read with deep emotion your letter of the 17th 
instant, inviting myself and family to witness the erection of a 
monument over the remains of my daughter, at Warren, White 
Sulphur Springs, on the 8th of next month. 

" I do not know how to express to you my thanks for your 
great kindness to her while living, and for your affectionate 
remembrance of her since dead. 

** My gratitude for your attention and consideration will con- 
tinue through life, and my prayers will be daily offered to the 
throne of the Most High for His boundless blessings upon you. 

" I have always cherished the intention of visiting the tomb 
of her who never gave me aught but pleasure ; but to afford me 
the satisfaction which I crave, it must be attended with more 
privacy than I can hope for on the occasion you propose. 

'' But there are more controlling considerations which will 
prevent my being present. Her mother, who for years has been 
afflicted with a painful disease, which has reduced her to a state 



74 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

of helplessness, is this far on her way to the mineral springs, 
which are considered the best calculated to afford her relief. 
My attendance is necessary to her in her journey, and the few 
weeks I have now at my disposal is the only time which can be 
devoted to this purpose. 

"Though absent in person, my heart will be with you, and 
my sorrow and devotions will be mingled with yours. 

*' I hope my eldest son and daughter may be able to be 
present with 3^ou, but, as they are distant from me, I cannot tell 
under what circumstances your invitation may find them. I feel 
certain, however, that nothing but necessity will prevent their 
attendance. 

** I enclose, according to your request, the date of my daugh- 
ter's birth, and the inscription proposed for the monument over 
her tomb. The latter are the last lines of the hymn which she 
asked for just before her death. 

" I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, 

'' R. E. Lee. 
" Mrs. Joseph S. Jones, 
Mrs. Thomas Carroll, 
Miss Br.ownlow, 
Miss M. Alston, 
Mrs. J. M. Heck, 
Mrs. Lucinda Jones, 



Committee." 



His son's wife, to whom he was deeply attached, and to whom 
he wrote many touchingly beautiful letters, full of the consola- 
tions and hopes of the Gospel, died while her husband (General 
W. H. F. Lee) was in a Northern prison, and on his return 
General Lee wrote him the foUowino; : 



" Camp, Orange County, April 24, 
" I received last night, my dear son, your letter of the 22d. 
It has given me great comfort. God knows how I loved your 
dear, dear wife, how sweet her memory' is to me, and how I 
mourn her loss. My grief could not be greater if you had been 
taken from me. You were both equally dear to me. My heart 
is too full to speak on this subject, nor can I write. But my 
grief is for ourselves, not for her. She is brighter and happier 
than ever — safe 'from all evil, and av^^aiting us in her heavenly 
abode. May God in His mercy enable us to join her in eternal 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 75 

praise to our Lord and Saviour. Let us humbly bow ourselves 
before Him, and offer perpetual prayer for pardon and forgive- 
ness. But we cannot indulge in grief, however mournfully 
pleasing. Our country demands all our strength, all our ener- 
gies. To resist the powerful combination now forming against 
us will require every man at his place. If victorious, we have 
everything to hope for in the future. If defeated, nothing will 
be left us to live for. I have not heard what action has been 
taken by the department in reference to my recommendations 
concerning the organization of the cavalry. But we have no 
time to wait, and you had better join your brigade. This week 
will, in all probability, bring us active work, and we must strike 
fast and strong. My whole trust is in God, and I am ready for 
whatever He may ordain. May He guide, guard and strengthen 
us, is my constant prayer. Your devoted father, 

*' R E Lee 
" General W. H. F. Lee." 

His affection for Jackson and Jackson's love for him were very 
touching. To Jackson's note informing him that he was wounded 
General Lee replied : ** I cannot express my regret at the oc- 
currence. Could I have directed events I should have chosen 
for the good of the country to have been disabled in your stead. 
I congratulate you on the victory which is due to your skill and 
energy." It was on the reception of these touching words that 
the wounded chieftain exclaimed : " Better that ten Jacksons 
should fall than one Lee." 

Several days afterwards, when his. great lieutenant was re- 
ported to be doing well, Lee playfully sent him word : " You are 
better off than I am ; for, while you have only lost your left, I 
have lost my right arm." 

Hearing soon after that Jackson was growing worse, he ex- 
pressed the deepest concern and said : '^ Tell him that I am 
praying for him as I believe I have never prayed for myself" 

The loth of May, 1863, was a beautiful Sabbath day, and Rev. 
B. T. Lacy, at the special request of the dying chieftain, left his 
bedside to- hold his usual services at the head-quarters of the 
Second Corps. General Lee was present at the service, and at 
its conclusion he took Mr. Lacy aside to inquire particularly 
after Jackson's condition. Upon being told that he would not 
probably live through the day, he exclaimed : " Oh ! sir, he must 



76 

not die. Surely God will not visit us with such a calamity. If 
I have ever prayed in my life I have pleaded with the Lord that 
Jackson might be spared to us." And then his heart swelled 
with emotion too deep for utterance, and he turned away to weep 
like a child. 

He thus announced the death of Jackson : 

"Head-quarters, A. N. Va., May ii, 1863. 
" General Order, No. 61. 

** With deep grief the commanding general announces to the 
army the death of Lieutenant-General T. J. Jackson, who ex- 
pired on the lOth inst., at a quarter past 3 p. M. The daring, 
skill and energy of this great and good soldier are now, by the 
decrees of an all-wise Providence, lost to us. iSut while we 
mourn his death, we feel that his spirit still lives, and will in- 
spire the whole army with his indomitable courage and unshaken 
confidence in God as our hope and strength. Let his name be a 
watchword to his corps, who have followed him to victory on so 
many fields. Let his officers and soldiers emulate his invincible 
determination to do everything in' the defence of our beloved 
country. " R. E. Lee, General." 

In a private letter to his wife General, Lee wrote : 

"Camp near Fredericksburg, May 11, 1863. 
" In addition to the death of officers and friends consequent 
upon the late battle, you will see that we have to mourn the loss 
of the great and good Jackson. Any victory would be dear at 
such a price. His remains go to Richmond to-day. I know 
not how to replace him ; but God's will be done ! I trust He 
v^ill raise up some one in his place." 

General Lee manifested the deepest concern for the spiritual 
welfare of the young men under his care. Soon after becoming 
president of Washington College, he said, with deep feeling, to 
Rev. Dr. White — then the venerable pastor of the Lexington 
Presbyterian Church — " I shall be disappointed, sir ; I shall fail 
in the leading object that brought me here, unless these young 
men become real Christians ; and I wish you and others of your 
sacred profession to do all you can to accomplish this." 

Rev. Dr. Brown, editor of the Central Presbyterian^ and one of 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 77 

the trustees of Washington and Lee University, says in his paper: 
" The crowning excellence of such men as Jackson and Lee was 
their sincere Christian piety." The remark made by General Lee 
to the Rev. Dr. White was made to us upon another occasion in 
a form even more emphatic. " I dread," said he, " the thought 
of any student going away from the college without becoming a 
sincere Christian." 

At the beginning of each session of the college he was accus- 
tomed to address an autograph letter to the pastors of Lexington 
inviting them to arrange for conducting in turn the regular chapel 
services of the college, asking them to induce the students to at- 
tend their several churches, Bible-classes, etc., and urging them 
to do all in their power for the spiritual good of the students. 
Not content with this general request, he was accustomed to 
prepare lists of students who belonged themselves, or whose 
families were connected with particular churches, and to hand 
these to the several pastors with the earnestly expressed wish 
that they would consider these young men under their especial 
watchcare, and give them every attention in their power. And 
he would frequently ask a pastor after individual students — 
whether they belonged to his Bible-class, were regular in their 
attendance at church, etc. 

General Lee did not believe in enforced religion, and "never re- 
quired the students by any collge law to attend chapel or church, 
but he did everything in his power to influence them to do so, 
and with the largest success. 

At the " Concert of Prayer for Colleges," in Lexington, in 
1869, I made an address in which I urged that the great need of 
our colleges was a genuine, pervasive revival — that this could 
only come from God ; and that inasmuch as He has promised 
His Holy Spirit to those who ask Him, we should make special 
prayer for a revival in the colleges of the country, and more 
particularly in Washington College and the Virginia Military 
Institute. At the close of the meeting General Lee came to me 
and said, with more than his usual warmth : " I wish, sir, to 
thank you for your address ; it was just what we needed. Our 
great want is a revival which shall bring these young men to 
Christ." 

During the great revival in the Virginia Military Institute in 
1869 he said to his pastor, with deep emotion : " That is the best 
news I have heard since I have been in Lexington. Would that 



78 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

we could have such a revival in all our colleges ! " Rev. Dr. 
Kirkpatrick, professor of moral philosophy in Washington Col- 
lege, relates the following concerning a conversation he had with 
General Lee just a short time previous to his fatal illness : " We 
had been conversing for some time respecting the religious wel- 
fare of the students. General Lee's feelings soon became so in- 
tense that for a time his utterance was choked ; but, recovering 
himself, with his eyes overflowed with tears, his lips quivering 
with emotion and both hands raised, he exclaimed: * Oh, doctor! 
if I could only know that all the young men in the college were 
good Christians, I should have nothing more to desire.' " 

General Lee was deeply interested in the Young Men's 
Christian Association of the college, and seemed highly gratified 
at its large measure of success. 

His letter in reply to one making him an honorary member 
of the association was as follows : 

^^My Dear Sir : I have received your letter announcing my 
election as an honorary member of the Young Men's Christian 
Association of Washington College — a society in whose pros- 
perity I take the deepest interest and for the welfare of whose 
members my prayers are daily offered. Please present my 
grateful thanks to your association for the honor conferred on 
me and believe me, 

" Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

'' R. E. Le 
" Mr. a. N. Gordon, Corresponding Secretary Young Men's 
Christian Association." 

Rev. Dr. Brantly, of Baltimore, and Bishop Marvin, of Missouri, 
who stayed at his house during the college commencement of 
1870, both speak of the warm gratification which General Lee 
expressed at the encouraging report of the religious interest 
among the students. 

General Lee was a member of the Episcopal Church, and was 
sincerely attached to the church of his choice; but his large 
heart took in Christians of every name; he treated ministers of 
all denominations with the most marked courtesy and respect ; 
and it may be truly said of him that he had a heart and hand 
*' ready to every good work." When once asked his opinion of a 
certain theological question, which was exciting considerable dis- 
cussion, he replied : " Oh ! I never trouble myself about such 



O!^, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 79 

questions ; my chief concern is to try to be an humble, earnest 
Christian myself." 

An application of a Jewish soldier for permission to attend 
certain ceremonies of his synagogue in Richmond was endorsed 
by his captain : " Disapproved. If such applications were 
granted the whole army would turn Jews or Shaking Quakers." 
When the paper came to General Lee he endorsed on it : "Ap- 
proved, and respectfully returned to Captain , with the advice 

that he should always respect the religious views and feelings 
of others." 

The following letters, addressed to a prominent rabbi of Rich- 
mond (to whom I am indebted for copies), will serve to illus- 
trate the broad charity of this model Christian : 

"Head-quarters, Valley Mountain, August 29, 1861. 
" Rabbi M. J. Michelbacher, Preacher Hebrew Congregation, 
House of Love, Richmond, Virginia: 

^^ Reverend Sir : I have just received your letter of the 23d 
inst., requesting that a furlough from the 2d to the 15th of Sep- 
tember be granted to the soldiers of the Jewish persuasion in 
the Confederate States Army, that they may participate in the 
approaching holy service of the synagogue. It would give me 
great pleasure to comply with a request so earnestly urged by 
you, and which, I know, would be so highly appreciated by that 
class of soldiers. But the necessities of war admit of no relaxa- 
tion of the efforts requisite for its success, nor can it be known 
on what day the presence of every man may be required. I feel 
assured that neither you nor any member of the Jewish Con- 
gregation would wish to jeopardize a cause you have so much 
at heart by the withdrawal even for a season of its defenders. I 
cannot, therefore, grant the general furlough you desire, but 
must leave it to individuals to make their own applications to 
their several commanders, in the hope that many will be able to 
enjoy the privilege you seek for them. Should any be deprived 
of the opportunity of offering up their prayers according to the 
rites of their church, I trust that their penitence may neverthe- 
less be accepted by the Most High, and their petitions answered. 
That your prayers for the success and welfare of our cause may 
be answered by the Great Ruler of the Universe is my ardent wish. 

" I have the honor to be, with high esteem, 
" Your obedient servant, 

" R. E. Lee, General Commanding." 



80 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

" Head-quarters, A. N. Va., April 2, 1863. 
" M. J. MiCHELBACHER, Minister of Hebrew Congregation, 
Richmond, Virginia: 

^^Sir; It will give me pleasure to comply with the request 
contained in your letter of the 30th ult., as far as the public in- 
terest will permit. But, I think it more than probable that the 
army will be engaged in active operations, when, of course, no 
one would wish to be absent from its ranks, nor could they in 
that event be spared. The reports from all quarters show that 
General Hooker's army is prepared to cross the Rappahannock, 
and only awaits favorable weather and roads. 

" The sentence in the case of Isaac Arnoldh as been suspended 
until the decision of the President shall be known. Thanking 
you very sincerely for your good wishes in behalf of our country, 

" I remain, with great respect, " Your obedient servant, 

" R. E. Lee." 

" Head-quarters, A. N. Va,, September 20, 1864. 
" Rev. M. J. MiCHELBACHER, Richmond: 

''Sir : I have received your letter of the 15th inst, asking that 
furloughs may be granted to the Israelites in the army from 
September 30 to October ii, to enable them to repair to Rich- 
mond to observe the holy days appointed by the Jewish 
religion. 

" It would afford me much pleasure to comply with your re- 
quest did the interests of the service permit, but it is impossible 
to grant a general furlough to one class of our soldiers without 
recognizing the claims of others to a like indulgence. I can 
only grant furloughs on applications setting forth special grounds 
for them, or in accordance with the general orders on that sub- 
ject applicable to all the army alike. 

" I will gladly do all in my power to facilitate the observance 
of the duties of their religion by the Israelites in the army, and I 
will allow them every indulgence consistent with safety and dis- 
cipline. If their applications be forwarded to me in the usual 
way, and it appears that they can be spared, I will be glad to 
approve as many of them as circumstances will permit. Accept 
my thanks for your kind wishes for myself, and believe me to 
be, with great respect, 

" Your obedient servant, 

" R. E. Lee." 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 81 

This characteristic was noted by all who came in contact with 
him, and not a few will cordially echo the remark of the venera- 
ble Dr. White, who said, with deep feeling, during the memorial 
services, " He belonged to one branch of the Church and I to 
another; yet, in my intercourse with him — an intercourse 
rendered far more frequent and intimate by the tender sympathy 
he felt in my ill health — the thought never occurred to me that 
we belonged to different churches. His love for the truth, and 
for all that is good and useful, was such as to render his 
brotherly kindness and charity as boundless as were the wants 
and sorrows of his race." 

It were an easy task to write pages more in illustration of the 
Christian character of our great leader; but the above must 
suffice. 

If I have ever come in contact with a sincere, devout Christian 
— ^one who, seeing himself to be a sinner, trusted alone in the 
merits of Christ — who humbly tried to walk the path of duty, 
" looking unto Jesus " as the author and finisher of his faith — 
and whose piety constantly exhibited itself in his daily life — that 
man was General R, E. Lee. 
6 



CHAPTER III. 

INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN OFFICERS — Continued. 

THE piety of Stonewall Jackson has become as historic as 
his wonderful military career. But, as it was my privi- 
leee to see a grood deal of him, and to learn from those intimate 
with him much of his inner life ; and as his Christian character 
is well worthy of earnest study, and of admiring imitation, I 
give a somewhat extended sketch of it. 

I first came into personal contact with him on the 4th of July, 
1 861, while our army was drawn up in line of battle at Darkes- 
ville, to meet General Patterson. The skill and tact with which 
he had reduced the high-spirited young men who rushed to 
Harper's Ferry at the first tap of the drum into the respectable 
"Army of the Shenandoah," which he turned over to General 
Johnston on the 23d of May, 1861, and the ability and stern 
courage with which he had checked Patterson's advance at Fall- 
ing Waters, had won for him some reputation, and I was anxious 
to see him. 

A colporter (good brother C. F. Fry) had sent me word that 
he desired permission to enter our lines to distribute Bibles and 
tracts. With the freedom with which in our army the humblest 
private could approach the highest officer I at once went to 
General Jackson for the permit. I have a vivid recollection of 
how he impressed me. Dressed in a simple Virginia uniform, 
apparently about thirty-seven years old, six feet high, medium 
size, grey eyes that seemed to look through you, light brown 
hair and a countenance in which deep benevolence seemed 
mingled with uncompromising sternness, he seemed to me to 
have about him nothing at all of the ** pomp and circumstance 
of war," but every element which enters into the skilful leader, 
and the indomitable, energetic soldier who was always ready for 
the fight. Stating to him my mission, he at once replied in 
pleasant tones and with a smile of peculiar sweetness : " Cer- 
tainly, sir ; it will give me great pleasure to grant all such per- 
(82) 



RELIGION IN lee's ARMY. 83 

mits. I am glad that you came to me, and I shall be glad to be 
introduced to the colporter." 

Afterward introducing my friend, Jackson said to him : "You 
are more than welcome to my camp, and it will give me great 
pleasure to help you in your work in every way in my power. I 
am more anxious than I can express that my men should be not 
only good soldiers of their country, but also good soldiers of the 
Cross." We lingered for some time in an exceedingly pleasant 
conversation about the religious welfare of the army, and when 
I turned away, with a very courteous invitation to call on him 
again, I felt that I had met a man of deep-toned piety, who car- 
ried his religion into every affair of life, and who was destined 
to make his mark in the war. 

Jackson had become a Christian some time before ; but it was 
not until the ■22d of November, 185 1, that he made public pro- 
fession of religion knd united with the Presbyterian Church in 
Lexington, then under the care of the venerable and beloved 
Rev. Dr. W. S. White, whose death in 1871 was so widely la- 
mented. 

The following incident, which was given me by Dr. White, not 
only illustrates his Christian character, but gives the key-note 
to his whole life. 

Not very long after his connection with the church the pastor 
preached a sermon on prayer, in which it was urged that every 
male church-member ought, when occasion required, to lead in 
public prayer. The next day, a faithful elder of the church 
asked ** Major Jackson " what he thought of the doctrine of the 
sermon, and if he was not convinced that he ought to lead in 
public prayer. " I do not think it my duty," he replied, and 
went on to assign as his reason that he hesitated in his speech 
to such an extent when excited that he did not think he could 
" pray to edification " in public. " Have you made the matter a 
subject of secret prayer ? " persisted the elder. " No, sir; but I 
will do so to-night." The elder then advised him also to con- 
sult his pastor, and he went at once to Dr. White's study and 
went over with him the arguments and passages of Scripture by 
which he supported his position. The next day the elder saw 
him walking rapidly by his place of business, and fearing that 
he wished to avoid the subject of their previous conversation he 
called him back and asked, ** Have you made that matter a sub- 
ject of prayerful investigation, major?" "Yes, sir, and I was 



84 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

just on my way to ask Dr. White to call on me to lead in prayer 
at the meeting to-night." Soon after he was called on, and 
made such a stammering effort that the pastor felt badly for 
him, and he was greatly mortified. Several subsequent ef- 
forts resulted in little better results, and the pastor began 
to think that, perhaps, Major Jackson was right — that he 
really could not " pray to edification " — and that he was, per- 
haps, an exception to the general rule that male members of the 
church ought to lead in public prayer. Accordingly he said to 
him one day : " Major, we do not wish to make our prayer- 
meetings uncomfortable to you, and if you prefer it, I will not 
call on you to lead in prayer again." 

The prompt and emphatic reply was : " My comfort has noth- 
ing in the world to do with it, sir; you, as my pastor, think that 
it is my duty to lead in public prayer — I think so too — and by 
God's grace I mean to do it. I wish yoti woilld please be so good 
as to call on me more frequently T Dr. White says that he saw 
from Jackson's reply and manner that lie meant to succeed — that 
he did call on him more frequently — and that he gradually im- 
proved until he became one of the most gifted men in prayer 
whom he had in his church. It was my privilege to hear him 
pray several times in the army, and if I ever heard a " fervent, 
effectual prayer," it was offered by this stern soldier. 

He was a '' deacon " (not an ** elder," as has been frequently 
asserted) in the church, and was untiring in the discharge of all 
the duties of the position. On one occasion he went at the 
appointed hour to attend a " deacons' meeting " at which there 
was important business to be transacted, and after waiting five 
minutes for several absentees (pacing back and forth, watch in 
hand), he asked to be excused for awhile, and darted off to the 
residence of one of them. Ringing the door-bell violently the 

gentleman came out, and Jackson accosted him with ** Mr. , 

it is eight minutes after 8 o'clock " (the hour appointed for the 
meeting). " Yes, major, I am aware of that, but I didn't have 
time to go out to-night." ** Didn't have time ? " retorted the 
deacon ; " why, sir, I should not suppose that you had time for 
anything else. Did we not set apart this hour (only one in the 
month) for the service of the church ? How then can you put 
aside your obligations in the matter?" With this he abruptly 
started back to the meeting, and his brother deacon felt so 
keenly his rebuke that he immediately followed. There was no 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 85 

difficulty in the finances of that church as long as " Deacon '* 
Jackson managed them. 

The venerable pastor said to me with deep emotion : " Oh, 
sir, when Jackson fell I lost not only a warm personal friend, a 
consistent, active church-member, but the best deacon I ever 
saw!" 

He was once collector for the Rockbridge Bible Society, and 
when the time came to report (to the surprise of his colleagues) 
he reported contributions from a number of negroes, remarking 
in explanation : ''They are poor, but ought not on that account 
to be denied the sweet privilege of helping so good a cause." 
He also reported : " I have a contribution from every person in 
my district except one lady. She has been away ever since I 
was appointed collector, but she will return home at 12 to-day, 
and I will see her at i o'clock." The next day he reported a 
contribution from her also. 

He frequently sought the counsel and instruction of his pastor, 
upon whom he looked as his ** superior officer," and to whom he 
would sometimes " report for orders." He was never blessed 
with large pecuniary means, but was always a most liberal con- 
tributor to every charitable object, and ever ready " to visit the 
fatherless and the widow in their distress." 

Jackson was one of the most thoroughly conscientious masters 
who ever lived. He not only treated his negroes kindly, but he 
devoted himself most assiduously to their religious instruction. 
He was not only accustomed (as were Christian masters gener- 
ally at the South) to invite his servants in to family prayers, but 
he also had a special meeting with them every Sunday afternoon 
in order to teach them the Scriptures. He made this exercise 
so interesting to them that other negroes of the town craved the 
privilege of attending, and he soon had his room full to over- 
•flowing of eager pupils. This suggested to him the idea of 
organizing a negro Sunday-school, which he did several years 
before the war, and to which he devoted all of the energies of 
his mind and all the zeal of his large. Christian heart. 

He was accustomed to prepare himself for the exercises of 
this school by the most careful study of the lessons. • The day 
before he left home for the war was Saturday, and he was very 
busy all day long making every preparation to leave at a mo- 
ment's warning. He paid all outstanding accounts, and settled 
up as far as possible his worldly affairs, while his devoted wife 
was busily plying the needle to prepare him for the field. 



86 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

At the supper-table Mrs. Jackson made some remark about 
the preparations for his expected departure, when he said, with 
a bright smile : " My dear, to-morrow is the blessed Sabbath 
day. It is also the regular communion season at our church. 
I hope I shall not be called to leave until Monday. Let us then 
dismiss from our conversation and our thoughts everything 
pertaining to the war, and have together one more quiet evening 
of preparation for our loved Sabbath duties." 

Accordingly the dark cloud of war was pushed aside. He 
read aloud to her for awhile from religious magazines and news- 
papers, and then they went to their accustomed study of the 
Bible lesson, which was to be taught on the morrow to the 
colored Sunday-school. It was such a bright, happy Saturday 
evening as is only known in the well-regulated Christian home. 
Alas ! it proved the last which he ever spent under his own roof 
tree. Early the next morning a telegram from the governor of 
the Commonwealth ordered him to march the corps of cadets for 
Richmond at 12.30 o'clock that day. Not waiting for his 
breakfast he hurried to the institute, and spent the morning in 
making' necessary preparations for the departure of the cadets, 
not forgetting to send a request to his pastor that he should be 
present to hold with them a brief service before they marched 
forth at the call of their sovereign State. 

At II o'clock he came home to take a hurried breakfast and 
make a few personal arrangements, and the last thing he did 
before leaving home was to retire with his wife into their cham- 
ber, read a part of the fifth chapter of Second Corinthians — 
beginning, *' For we know that if the earthly house of this taber- 
nacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens " — and then made an 
humble, tender, fervent prayer, in which he begged that the 
dark cloud of war might even then be dissipated ; that the God 
of Peace might calm the storm and avert the calamity of war, or 
that He might at least go forth with him and with the young 
men under his command to guide, guard, help and bless them. 

At 12 o'clock the venerable pastor was present to make to the 
corps an appropriate address of Christian counsel, and lead in a 
fervent, tender prayer. 

At the appointed hour, to the exact minute. Major Jackson 
gave the order : "Attention ! Forward ! March ! " 

And thus the loving husband bade adieu to his home, the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE'S ARMY. 87 

faithful church-member turned away from his communion ser- 
vice, the earnest Sunday-school teacher left his lesson untaught, 
and the peerless soldier marched forth from the parade-ground 
to win immortal fame, to come not back again until his body 
was borne to its burial in the beautiful cemetery at " Lexington, 
in the Valley of Virginia," and two continents were bursting with 
the fame of " Stonewall " Jackson. 

Jackson gave a great deal of time to his colored Sunday- 
school. He was accustomed to carry around himself the most 
carefully prepared reports of the conduct and progress of each 
pupil, and to do everything in his power to interest the whites 
of the community in the school. 

Soon after one of the great battles, a large crowd gathered one 
day at the post-office in Lexington, anxiously awaiting the open- 
ing of the mail, that they might get the particulars concerning 
the great battle which they had heard had been fought. The 
venerable pastor of the Presbyterian Church (Rev. Dr. W. S. 
White, from whom I received the incident) was of the company, 
and soon had handed him a letter which he recognized as directed 
in Jackson's well-known handwriting. " Nqw," said he, " we 
will have the news ! Here is a letter from General Jackson 
himself" The crowd eagerly gathered around, but heard to 
their very great disappointment a letter which made not the most 
remote allusion to the battle or the war, but which enclosed a 
check for fifty dollars with which to buy books for his colored 
Sunday-school, and was filled with inquiries after the interests 
of the school and the church. He had no time or inclination to 
write of the great victory and the imperishable laurels he was 
winning; but he found time to remember his noble work among 
God's poor, and to contribute further to the good of the negro 
children whose true friend and benefactor he had always been. 
And he was accustomed to say that one of the very greatest 
privations to him which the war brought, was that he was taken 
away from his loved work in the colored Sunday-school. 

Jackson thus acquired a wonderful influence over the colored 
people of that whole region, and to this day his memory is 
warmly cherished by them. When Hunter's army was marching 
into Lexington, the Confederate flag which floated over Jackson's 
grave was hauled down and concealed by some of the citizens. 
A lady who stole into the cemetery one morning while the 
Federal army was occupying the town, bearing fresh flowers 



88 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

with which to decorate the hero's grave, was surprised to find a 
miniature Confederate flag planted on the grave with a verse of 
a famihar hymn pinned to it. Upon inquiry she found that a 
colored boy, who had belonged to Jackson's Sunday-school, 
had procured the flag, gotten some one to copy a stanza of a 
favorite hymn which Jackson had taught him, and had gone in 
the night to plant the flag on the grave of his loved teacher. 

It will be gratifying to many of our readers to add that this 
school is still kept up, and is in a most flourishing condition 
under the management of Colonel J. L. T. Preston, of the Vir- 
ginia Military Institute, Professor J. J. White, of Washington and 
Lee University, and others of the best people in Lexington. 

Jackson was equally scrupulous in attending to all his re- 
ligious duties. " Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ? " seemed 
the motto of his life. Regular in meeting all of his religious 
obligations, he walked straight along the path of duty, doing with 
his might whatsoever his hands found to do. In the army his 
piety, despite all obstacles, seemed to brighten as the pure gold 
is refined by the furnace. He beautifully illustrated in his life 
the lesson of the .great apostle : " Not slothful in business, fer- 
vent in spirit, serving the Lord." He was a man of prayer, 
accustomed in all he did to ask the Divine blessing and guid- 
ance. His old body-servant said that he " could always tell 
when a battle was near at hand by seeing the general get up a 
great many times in the night to pray." He was frequently ob- 
served in the beginning and in the midst of the battle to lift up 
his hands towards heaven, and those near could hear his ejacu- 
latory prayers. Just before the battle of Fredericksburg he rode 
out in front of his line of battle and offered earnest prayer for the 
success of his arms that day. The morning of the opening of 
the campaign of Chancellorsville he spent a long time in prayer 
before mounting to ride to the field. 

A writer in the Richmond W/ii^ thus describes a scene en- 
acted soon after the battle of McDowell : " General Jackson 
addressed his troops in a few terse and pointed remarks, thank- 
ing them for the courage, endurance and soldierly conduct dis- 
played at the battle of McDowell on the 8th inst., and closed 
by appointing lo o'clock of that day as an occasion of prayer 
and thanksgiving throughout the army for the victory which 
followed that bloody engagement. There, in the beautiful little 
valley of the South Branch, with the blue and towering moun- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's 'ARMY. - 89 

tains covered with the verdure of spring, the green sward smil- 
ing a welcome to the season of flowers, and the bright sun, un- 
clouded, lending a genial, refreshing warmth, that army, equipped 
for the stern conflict of war, bent in humble praise and thanks- 
giving to the God of Battles for the success vouchsafed to our 
arms in the recent sanguinary encounter of the two armies. 
While this solemn ceremony was progressing in every regiment, 
the minds of the soldieiy drawn off from the bayonet and sabre, 
the enemy's artillery was occasionally belching forth its leaden 
death; yet all unmoved stood that worshipping army, acknowl- 
edging the supremacy of the will of Him who controls the 
destinies of men and nations, and chooses the weaker things of 
earth to confound the mighty." 

Rev. Dr. Wm. Brown, former editor of the Central Presbyte- 
rian^ relates a characteristic anecdote of this " man of prayer." 
During a visit to the army around Centreville, in 1 86 1, a friend 
remarked to Dr. Brown, in speaking of General Jackson in the 
strain in which many of his old acquaintances were accustomed 
to disparage him, " The truth is, sir, that * old Jack ' is crazy. 
I can account for his conduct in no other way. Why, I 
frequently meet him out in the woods walking back and forth 
muttering to himself incoherent sentences and gesticulating 
wildly, and at such times he seems utterly oblivious of my 
presence and of everything else." Dr. Brown happened the next 
night to share Jackson's blanket, and in a long and tender con- 
versation on his favorite theme — the means of promoting per- 
sonal holiness in camp — the great soldier said to him : " I find 
that it greatly helps me in fixing my mind and quickening my 
devotions to give articulate utterance to my prayers, and hence 
I am in the habit of going off into the woods, where I can be 
alone and speak audibly to myself the prayers I would pour out 
to my God. I was at first annoyed that I was compelled to keep 
my eyes open to avoid running against the trees and stumps ; 
but upon investigating the matter I do not find that the Scrip- 
tures require us to close our eyes in prayer, and the exercise 
has proven to me very delightful and profitable." 

And thus Dr. Brown got the explanation of the conduct which 
his friend had cited to prove that " old Jack is crazy." 

A friend was once conversing with him about the difficulty 
of obeying the Scripture injunction, " pray without ceasing," and 
Jackson insisted that we could so accustom ourselves to it that 



90 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

it could be easily obeyed. " When we take our meals there is 
the grace. When I take a draught of water I always pause, as 
my palate receives the refreshment, to lift up my heart to God in 
thanks and prayer for the water of life. Whenever I drop a 
letter into the box at the post-office I send a petition along with 
it for God's blessing upon its mission and upon the person to 
whom it is sent. When I break the seal of a letter just received 
I stop to pray to God that He may prepare me for its contents 
and make it a messenger of good. When I go to my class-room 
and await the arrangement of the cadets in their places, that is 
my time to intercede with God for them. And so of every other 
familiar act of the day." 

" But," said his friend, " do you not often forget these seasons, 
coming so frequently ? " 

** No ! " said he. *' I have made the practice habitual to me ; 
and I can no more forget it than forget to drink when I am 
thirsty. The habit has become as delightful as regular." 

Jackson had a firm and unshaken trust in the promises of 
God and His superintending Providence under <^// circumstances, 
and it was his habitual practice to pray for and trust in Divine 
guidance under every circumstance of trial. 

His friend. Elder Lyle — one of the noblest specimens of a 
faithful Christian that ever lived — used to question him very 
closely on his Christian experience, and one day asked him if 
he really believed the promise : "All things work together for 
good to them that love God, to them who are the called accord- 
ing to his purpose." He said that he did, and the elder asked : 
" If you were to lose your health, would you believe it then ? " 
" Yes ! I think I should." ** How if you were to become 
entirely blind ? " "I should still believe it." ** But suppose, in 
addition to your loss of health and sight, you should become 
utterh- dependent upon the cold charities of the world ? " He 
thought for a moment and then replied with emphasis : " If it 
were the will of God to place me there. He would enable me to 
lie there peacefully a hundred years." He nobly stood this test- 
when called on to cross the Jordan of Death. 

Soon after he was wounded he said to Rev. B. T. Lacy — who 
exclaimed, on seeing him: "Oh, general, what a calamity!" 
" You see me severely wounded, but not depressed — not unhappy. 
I believe it has been done according to God's holy will, and I 
acquiesce entirely in it. You may think it strange ; but you 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 91 

never saw me more perfectly contented than I am to-day ; for I 
am sure that my Heavenly Father designs this affliction for my 
good. I am perfectly satisfied that either in this life, or in that 
which is to come, I sliall discover that what is now regarded as 
a calamity is a blessing. And if it appears a great calamity (as 
it surely will be a great inconvenience) to be deprived of my 
arm, it will result in a great blessing. I can wait until God, in 
His own time, shall make known to me the object He has in thus 
afflicting me. But why should I not rather rejoice in it as a 
blessing, and not look on it as a calamity at all ? If it were in 
my power to replace my arm, I would not dare do it unless I 
could know that it was the will of my Heavenly Father." 

His dispatches and official reports all breathed this spirit of 
trust in and dependence upon God. His simple " God blessed 
our arms with victory at McDowell yesterday," was but a type 
of the character and spirit of his dispatches. 

After his capture of Winchester in 1862 he issued the follow- 
ing order : 

" Head-quarters, Valley District. 

Winchester, May 26, 1862. 
^'General Order No. 53. 

"Within four weeks this army has made long and rapid marches, 
fought six combats and two battles, signally defeating the enemy 
in each one, captured several stands of colors and pieces of artil- 
lery, with numerous prisoners and vast medical, ordnance and 
army stores, and finally driven the boastful host, which was 
ravaging our beautiful country, into utter rout. The general 
commanding would warmly express to the officers and men 
under his command his joy in their achievements, and his thanks 
for their brilliant gallantry in action, and their patient obedience 
under the hardships of forced marches, often more painful to 
the brave soldier than the dangers of battle. The explanation 
of the severe exertions to which the commanding general called 
the army, which were endured by them with such cheerful con- 
fidence in him, is now given in the victory of yesterday. He 
receives thisproof of their confidence in the past with pride and 
gratitude, and asks only a similar confidence in the future. But 
his chief duty to-day, and that of the army, is to recognize de- 
voutly the hand of a protecting Providence in the brilliant 
successes of the last three days, which have given us the results of 
a great victory without great losses, and to make the oblation of 



92 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

our thanks to God for His mercies to us and our country in 
heartfelt acts of religious worship. For this purpose the troops 
•will remain in camp to-day, suspending, as far as practicable, all 
military exercises, and the chaplains of regiments will hold 
Divine service in their several charges at 4 o'clock p. M. to-day." 

A correspondent, as quoted in Dr. Bennett's " Great Revival," 
says : " I saw something to-day which affected me more than 
anything I ever saw or read on religion. While the battle was 
raging and the bullets were flying, Jackson rode by, calm as if 
he were at home, but his head was raised toward heaven, and 
his lips were moving, evidently in prayer. Meeting a chaplain 
near the front in the heat of a battle, the general said to him, 
* The rear is your place, sir, now, and prayer your business.' 
He said to a colonel who wanted worship, 'AH right, colonel, 
but don't forget to drill.' 

" This incident is related by one of his staff Entering the gen- 
eral's room at midnight, Major found him at prayer. After 

half an hour the major stepped to the door and asked of the aid 
if he did not think the general had fallen asleep on his knees 
from excessive fatigue. ' Oh, no ; you know the general is an 
old Presbyterian, and they all make long prayers.' The major 
returned, and after waiting an hour the general rose from his 
knees." 

Another writer says : " General Jackson never enters a battle 
without invoking God's blessing and protection. The depend- 
ence of this strange man upon the Deity seems never to be ab- 
sent from his mind, and whatever he says or does, it is always 
prefaced, * by God's blessing.' ' By God's blessing we have de- 
feated the enemy,' is his laconic and pious announcement of a 
victory. One of his officers said to him, * Well, general, another 
candidate is waiting your attention.' ' So I observe,' was the 
quiet reply, * and by God's blessing he shall receive it to his full 
satisfaction.' 

'After a battle has been fought the same rigid remembrance 
of Divine power is observed. The army is drawn up in line, the 
general dismounts from his horse, and then, in the presence of 
his rough, bronzed-faced troops, with head uncovered and bent 
awe-stricken to the ground, the voice of the good man, which 
but a few hours before was ringing out in quick, fiery intonations, 
is now heard subdued and calm, as if overcome by the presence 
of the Supreme Being, in holy appeal to the ' sapphire throne.' 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 93 

" Few such spectacles have been witnessed in modern times, 
and it is needless to add that few such examples have ever told 
with such wondrous power upon the hearts of men. Is it sur- 
prising that ' Stonewall ' Jackson is invincible, and that he can lead 
his army to certain victory, whenever God's blessing precedes 
the act?" 

Jackson delighted in religious conversation and frequently en- 
gaged in it with his whole soul at times least expected by those 
who did not know him. During one of his battles, while he was 
waiting in the rear of a part of his command, which he had put in 
position to engage the attention of the enemy while another di- 
vision had been sent to flank them, a young officer on his staff 
gave him a copy of the sketch of " Captain Dabney Carr Har- 
rison," a young Presbyterian minister, widely known and loved 
in Virginia, who had been killed at Fort Donelson. He ex- 
pressed himself highly gratified at getting the sketch, and en- 
tered into an earnest conversation on the power of Christian ex- 
ample. He was interrupted by an officer, who reported " the 
enemy advancing," but paused only long enough to give the 
laconic order, " Open on them," and then resumed the conversa- 
tion, which he continued for some time, only pausing now and 
then to receive dispatches and give necessary orders. A chap- 
lain relates that on the eve of the battle of Fredericksburg he 
saw an officer wrapped in his overcoat, so that his marks of rank 
could not be seen, lying just in the rear of a battery quietly reading 
his Bible. He approached and entered into conversation on the 
prospects of the impending battle, but the officer soon changed 
the conversation to religious topics, and the chaplain was led to 
ask, "What regiment are you chaplain of? " What was his as- 
tonishment to find that the quiet Bible-reader and fluent talker 
upon religious subjects was none other than the famous " Stone- 
wall " Jackson. 

He did everything in his power to encourage his chaplains 
and help them in their work, was a regular and deeply interested 
attendant on religious services, and was largely instrumental in 
the organization of our Chaplains' Association. He was acciis- 
tomed to say, when hearing accounts of religious matters in the 
army which pleased him : " That is good — very good — we 
ought to thank God for that." 

I remember one day, when walking over from near Hamilton's 
Crossing to a meeting of our Chaplains' Association, that Gen- 



94 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

eral Jackson overtook me (riding alone, as was his frequent 
habit), and, inquiring where I was going, he promptly dis- 
mounted, and throwing his bridle over his arm walked with me 
several miles, engaged in earnest conversation about the relig- 
ious interests of his men, and how best to promote them. 

He was especially anxious to have his regiments supplied 
with chaplains, and his corps with missionaries, and it Avas 
largely due to his exertions that his corps was better supplied 
than any other part of the army. 

In a letter to the Southern Presbyterian General Assembly he 
said : 

" My views are summed up in a few words : 

'' Each branch of the Christian Church should send into the 
army some of its most prominent ministers who are distin- 
guished for their piety, talents and zeal; and such ministers 
should labor to produce concert of action among chaplains and 
Christians in the army. These ministers should give special at- 
tention to preaching to regiments which are without chaplains, 
and induce them to take steps to get chaplains, to let the regi- 
ments name the denominations from which they desire chap- 
lains selected, and then to see that suitable chaplains are secured. 

**A bad selection of a chaplain may prove a curse instead of a 
blessing. If the few prominent ministers thus connected with 
each army would cordially co-operate, I believe that glorious 
fruits would be the result. Denominational distinctions should 
be kept out of view, and not touched upon. And, as a general 
rule, I do not think that a chaplain who would preach denomi- 
national sermons should be in the army. His congregation is 
his regiment, and it is composed of various denominations. I 
would like to see no question asked in the army of what denomi- 
nation a chaplain belongs to ; but let the question be. Does he 
preach the Gospel ? 

** The neglect of the spiritual interests of the army may be seen 
from the fact that not one-half of the regiments have chaplains. 

"Among the wants of the church in the army are some min- 
isters of such acknowledged superiority and zeal as, under God, 
to be the means of giving concert of action. Our chaplains, at 
least in the same military organization encamped in the same 
neighborhood, should have their meetings, and through God's 
blessing devise successful plans for spiritual conquests. All the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 95 

other departments of the army have system, and such system 
exists in any other department of the service that no one of its 
officers can neglect his duty without diminishing the efficiency 
of his branch of the service. And it appears to me that when 
men see what attention is bestowed secularly in comparison 
with what is religiously, they naturally underestimate the im- 
portance of religion. From what l have said, you may think I 
am despondent ; but, thanks to an ever kind Providence, such is 
not the case. I do not know where so many men, brought to- 
gether without any religious test, exhibit so much religious feel- 
ing. The striking feature is that so much that is hopeful should 
exist, when so little human instrumentality has been employed 
for its accomplishment. In civil life, ministers have regular 
meetings to devise means for co-operation in advancing the in- 
terests of the church. This can be done in the army, and I am 
persuaded it should be done. . . . 

" Some ministers ask for leave of absence for such trivial ob- 
jects, in comparison with the salvation of the soul, that I fear 
they give occasion to others to think that such ministers do not 
believe that the salvation of the soul is as important as they 
preach. It is the special province of the chaplains to look after 
the spiritual interests of the army, and I greatly desire to see 
them evincing a rational zeal proportional to the importance of 
their mission. Do not believe that I think the chaplains are the 
only delinquents. I do not believe, but know, that I am a great 
delinquent, and I do not design saying what I have said respect- 
ing the laxness of chaplains to apply to all of them. I would 
like to see each Christian denomination send one of its great 
lights into the army. By this arrangement I trust that, if any 
should have denominational feelings, they will not be in the 
way of advancing a common and glorious cause." 

Let us go some bright Sabbath morning to that cluster of 
tents in the grove across the Massaponax, not far from Hamil- 
ton's Crossing. Seated on the rude logs, or on the ground, may 
be seen fifteen hundred or two thousand men, with upturned faces, 
eagerly drinking in the truths of the Gospel. That reverent wor- 
shipper that kneels in the dust during prayer, or listens with sharp- 
ened attention and moist eyes as the preacher delivers his mes- 
sage, is our loved Commander-in-Chief, General R. E. Lee; that 
devout worshipper who sits at his side, gives his personal atten- 
tion to the seating of the multitude, looks so supremely happy as 



96 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

he sees the soldiers thronging to hear the Gospel, and listens 
so attentively to the preaching, is "Stonewall" Jackson; those 
" wreaths and stars " which cluster around are worn by som^ of 
the most illustrious generals of that army; and all through the 
congregation the "stars" and "bars" mingle with the rough garb 
of the " unknown heroes " of the rank and file who never quail 
amid the leaden and iron hail of battle, but are not ashamed to 
" tremble" under the power of God's truth. I need not say that 
this is Jackson's head-quarters, and the scene I have pictured one 
of frequent occurrence. 

General Jackson had Rev. B. T. Lacy commissioned chaplain 
(not " corps chaplain," as he has been improperly called, for there 
was no such rank; and, indeed, Confederate chaplains had no 
military rank whatever, but were all on the same footing of 
equality as simply preachers and spiritual leaders of their com- 
mands), and ordered to report to him for duty, and he assigned 
him to preach at his head-quarters and labor in the more destitute 
commands of the corps. Dr. Lacy was a genial gentleman, an 
indefatigable worker, and a powerful and effective preacher, and 
his association with General Jackson gave him special influence 
and a wide field of usefulness. Some of the services at Jackson's 
head-quarters were of deep interest and wide-reaching in their 
blessed results. 

Upon one occasion, I called at Jackson's head-quarters and 
found him just going in to a prayer meeting which he was accus- 
tomed to hold. I gladly accepted his invitation to attend, and 
shall never forget the power, comprehensiveness, and tender 
pathos of the prayer he made during that delightful prayer- 
meeting. Only a few days before the battle of Chancellorsville, 
I had the privilege (in company with several brother-chaplains) 
of dining with him at his mess, and of lingering for an hour of 
most delightful converse in his tent. Military matters were 
scarcely alluded to, and then he would quickly change the topic ; 
but we fully discussed questions pertaining to the promotion of 
religion in the camps — how to secure more chaplains and to 
induce pastors to come as missionaries to the soldiers, and kin- 
dred topics. And then we got on the subject of personal piety, 
the obstacles to growth in grace in the army, the best means of 
promoting it, etc., and as the great soldier talked earnestly and 
eloquently from a full heart, I had to lay aside my office as 
teacher in Israel and be content to " sit at the feet " of this able 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 97 

theologian, this humble, earnest Christian, and learn of him les- 
sons in the Divine life. More than almost any man I ever met, 
he accepted fully the precious promises of God's word, walked 
by a living faith in Jesus, and was guided by the star of hope as 
he trod firmly the path of duty. How far the glorious revivals 
with which we were favored were in answer to the prayers, and 
in blessing on the efforts of " Stonewall " Jackson, and to what ex- 
tent his influence was blessed to individuals, eternity alone can 
reveal. I have it from a well-authenticated source that the con- 
version of Lieutenant-General Ewell, Jackson's able lieutenant, 
was on this wise : At a council of war, one night, Jackson had 
listened very attentively to the views of his subordinates, and 
asked until the next morning to present his own. As they came 
away, A, P. Hill laughingly said to Ewell, " Well ! I suppose 
Jackson w^ants time to pray over it." Having occasion to return 
to his quarters again a short time after, Ewell found Jackson on 
his knees and heard his ejaculatory prayers for God's guidance 
in the perplexing movements then before him. The sturdy 
veteran Ewell was so deeply impressed by this incident and by 
Jackson's general religious character, that he said : *' If that is 
religion, I must have it ; " and in making a profession of faith not 
long afterwards he attributed his conviction to the influence of 
Jackson's piety. 

Since he lived such a life, it was to be expected that he would 
die a glorious death. In the full tide of his splendid career, just 
as he was completing what he regarded as the most successful 
military movement of his life, with high ambition and bright 
hopes for the future, he was shot down by the fire of his own 
men, who would gladly have yielded up their own lives to have 
saved their loved chieftain one single pang. 

He bore his sufferings, and the amputation of his arm with 
the utmost Christian fortitude, saying repeatedly that he was 
perfectly resigned to God's will and would not, if he could, 
restore the arm, unless assured that it was his Heavenly Father's 
will. 

When he seemed better and expected to recover, he spoke 
freely of being so near death when first wounded, and expecting 
fully to die before a surgeon could reach him, and said that he 
" gave himself up to the hands of his Heavenly Father, and was 
in the possession of perfect peace." 

Rev. Dr. B. T. Lacy relates that, alluding to this period of 
7 



98 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ,* 

expected death, he said : " It has been a precious experience to 
me that I was brought face to face with death, and found all was 
well. I then learned an important lesson : that one who has been 
the subject of converting grace and is the child of God can, in 
the midst of the severest sufferings, fix his thoughts upon God 
and heavenly things, and derive great comfort and peace ; but 
that one who had never made his peace with God would be 
unable to control his mind, under such sufferings, so as to under- 
stand properly the way of salvation, and repent and believe on 
Christ. I felt that if I had neglected the salvation of my soul 
before, it would have been too late then." 

He dictated a letter to General Lee, in which he congratulated 
him on " the great victory which God has vouchsafed to your 
arms." 

But before this note was sent, the following came to him from 
General Lee, in response to a previous note which had been sent 
by Jackson : 

"General; I have just received your note informing me that 
you were wounded. I cannot express my regret at the occur- 
rence. Could I have directed events, I should have chosen, for 
the good of the country, to have been disabled in your stead. I 
congratulate you upon the victory which is due to your skill 
and energy. Most truly yours, 

'' R. E. Lee, General." 

Jackson seemed deeply touched at the generous letter from his 
chief, but said, after a brief pause : " General Lee is very kind : 
but he should give the glory to God." 

Afterwards, in talking about this great victory, he said : " Our 
movement yesterday was a great success ; I think the most suc- 
cessful military movement of my life. But I expect to receive 
far more credit for it than I deserve. Most men will think I had 
planned it all from the first ; but it was not so — I simply took 
advantage of circumstances as they were presented to me in the 
Providence of God. I feel that His hand led me : let us give 
Him all the glory." 

When he had been removed to the house of Mr. Chandler, 
near Guinea's Station, and had so far rallied as to feel confident 
of his recovery, he talked very freely on his favorite religious 
topics. Dr. Dabney says (in his admirable biography of Jackson, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 99 

to which I am indebted for several incidents given above) : " He 
requested his chaplain to visit him at lo o'clock each morn- 
ing for reading the Scriptures and prayer. These seasons were 
the occasions of much religious conversation, in which he un- 
bosomed himself with unusual freedom and candor. He declared 
that his faith and hope in his Redeemer were clear. He said he 
was perfectly willing to die at that time ; but believed that his 
time was not yet come, that his Heavenly Father still had a 
work for him to do in defence of his beloved country, and that 
until that was completed he should be spared. During these 
morning hours he delighted to enlarge on his favorite topics of 
practical religion, which were such as these : The Christian 
should carry his religion into everything. Christianity makes 
man better in any lawful calling; it equally makes the general a 
better commander, and the shoemaker a better mechanic. In 
the case of the cobbler, or the tailor, for instance, religion will 
produce more care in promising work, more punctuality, and 
more fidelity in executing it, from conscientious motives ; and 
these homely examples were fair illustrations of its value in 
more exalted functions. So prayer aids any man, in any lawful 
business, not only by bringing down the Divine blessing, which 
is its direct and prime object, but by harmonizing his own mind 
and heart. In the commander of an army at the critical hour, 
it calmed his perplexities, moderated his anxieties, steadied the 
scales of judgment, and thus preserved him from exaggerated 
and rash conclusions. Again he urged that every act of man's 
life should be a religious act. He recited with much pleasure 
the ideas of Doddridge, where he pictured himself as spiritual- 
izing every act of his daily life ; as thinking when he washed 
himself, of the cleansing blood of Calvary ; as praying while he 
put on his garments, that he might be clothed with the right- 
eousness of the saints; as endeavoring, while he was eating, to 
feed upon the Bread of heaven. General Jackson now also 
enforced his favorite dogma, that the Bible furnished men with 
rules for everything. If they would search, he said, they would 
find a precept, an example, or a general principle, applicable to 
every possible emergency of duty, no matter what was a man's 
calling. There the military man might find guidance for every 
exigency. Then, turning to Lieutenant Smith, he asked him, 
smiling : * Can you tell me where the Bible gives generals a 
model for their official reports of battles?' He answered, 



100 . CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

laughing, that it never entered his mind to think of looking for 
such a thing in the Scriptures. * Nevertheless,' said the general, 
' there are such, and excellent models, too. Look, for instance, 
at the narrative of Joshua's battle with the Amalekites ; there 
you have one. It has clearness, brevity, fairness, modesty; and 
it traces the victory to its right source, the blessing of God.' " 

As he gradually grew worse, and his physicians and friends 
became alarmed about his condition, he was calm, resigned, even 
joyous, at the prospect. 

Noticing the sadness of his loving wife, he said to her, 
tenderly : " I know you would gladly give your life for me, but 
I am perfectly resigned. Do not be sad. I hope I may yet 
recover. Pray for me, but always remember in your prayers to 
use the petition, * Thy will be done.' " 

When he saw the number of surgeons who were called in, he 
said to his medical director. Dr. Hunter McGuire : " I see from 
the number of physicians that you consider my condition danger- 
ous, but I thank God that, if it is His will, I am ready to go." 

When his wife informed him that the doctors thought his. 
recovery very doubtful, he was silent for a moment, and then 
said : ** It will be infinite gain to be translated to heaven." When 
later, on that beautiful Sabbath day, he was informed that he 
could scarcely live till night, he engaged for a moment in intense 
thought, and then replied: "Very good, very good; it is all 
right." 

Dr. McGuire thus concludes a deeply interesting paper on the 
wounding and death of Jackson : " He tried to comfort his almost 
heart-broken wife, and told her he had a good deal to say to her, 
but he was too weak. Colonel Pendleton came into the room 
about I o'clock, and he asked him : * Who is preaching at head- 
quarters to-day ? ' When told that the whole army was praying 
for him, he replied : * Thank God — they are very kind.' . He 
said, * It is the Lord's day ; my wish is fulfilled. I have always 
desired to die on Sunday.' 

" His mind now began to fail and wander, and he frequently 
talked as if in command upon the field, giving orders in his old 
way ; then the scene shifted, and he was at the mess-table in 
conversation with members of his staff; now with his wife and 
child ; now at prayers with his military family. Occasionally 
intervals of return of his mind would appear, and during one of 
them I offered him some brandy and water; but he declined it, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 101 

saying : * It will only delay my departure and do no good ; I 
want to preserve my mind, if possible, to the last' About half- 
past one he was told that he had but two hours to live, and he 
answered again feebly, but firmly : ' Very good ; it is all right.' 

**A few moments before he died he cried out, in his delirium : 
' Order A. P. Hill to prepare for action ! Pass the infantry to 
the front rapidly! Tell Major Hawks' — then stopped, leaving 
the sentence unfinished. Presently a smile of ineffable sweetness 
spread over his pale face, and he said quietly, and with an ex- 
pression as if of relief, ' Let us cross over the river and rest 
under the shade of the trees ; ' and then, without pain, or the 
the least struggle, his spirit passed from earth to the God who 
gave it." 

In fine, Jackson took Jesus as his Saviour, his Guide, his great 
Exemplar, " the Captain of his salvation," whom he followed 
with the unquestioning obedience of the true soldier. And 
having thus lived, it is not surprising that he died the glorious 
death which has been described. Nay, it was not death ; the 
weary, worn, battle-scarred veteran only received an ''honorable 
dischargey He had won the victory, he only went to wear the 
'* crown of rejoicing ; " 

" That crown with peerless glories bright, 
Which shall new lustre boast 
When victors' wreaths and monarchs' gems 
Shall blend in common dust." 



CHAPTER IV. 
INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN OFFICERS — Concluded. 

THE number and influence of Christian officers in our army 
is a chapter which expands so widely as one comes to 
write it, that I find myself compelled to condense much of the 
material that it may be brought within proper limits ; but there 
are other facts which must not be omitted. 

General J. E. B. Stuart, Chief of Cavalry, Army of Northern 
Virginia, has been called ** the flower of cavaliers," the " Prince 
Rupert" of the Confederacy, and " Harry of Navarre," and he 
has been described a§ a gay, rolicksome, laughing soldier, "always 
ready for a dance or a fight." And yet Stuart was an humble, 
earnest Christian, who took Christ as his personal Saviour, lived 
a stainless life, and died a triumphant death. He used to attend 
our Chaplains' Association when he could, took a deep interest 
in its proceedings, and manifested the liveliest concern for the 
spiritual welfare of his men. 

Not long before his lamented death he sought a personal 
interview with me, and discussed with great interest and intelli- 
gent zeal plans for the better supply of the cavalry with chap- 
lains and religious reading. He spoke of the active life the 
cavalry were compelled to lead, as at the same time a serious 
obstacle to regular services among them and an increased 
necessity for having men of God who would follow them on 
their rapid marches, or carry the bread of life to them on the 
outposts. He was especially anxious to get an efficient man at 
his head-quarters, Avho could always be found when a preacher 
was needed, and made a very liberal offer for the comfort and 
support of such an one. But he was very emphatic in saying : 
*' I do not want a man who is not both able and willing to 
endure hardness as a good soldier. The man who cannot 
endure the fatigues, hardships and privations of our rough 
riding and hard service, and be in place when needed, would be 
of no earthly use to us, and is not wanted at my head-quarters.' 
(102) 



RELIGION IN lee's ARMY. 103 

He fell in battle at Yellow Tavern, in a heroic and successful 
effort to save Richmond from Sheridan's raid in May, 1864, and 
in the full tide of a brilliant career. But though thus cut down 
when full of life and hope, he said, when the surgeon expressed 
the hope that he would ultimately recover : " Well, I don't know 
how this will turn out ; but if it is God's will that I shall die, I 
am ready." 

He reached the house of his brother-in-law, Dr. Brewer, in 
Richmond, and began to sink so rapidly that it was very evident 
to his friends and to himself that he must soon pass away. He 
calmly made disposition of his effects, and gave necessary direc- 
tions. Hearing the sound of artillery, he said to his gallant and 
tnisted adjutant. Major H. B. McClellan, who was with him, and 
whose valuable services in the field he so highly appreciated : 
" Major, Fitz. Lee may need you," and expressed interest in 
how the battle was going. 

But he quickly added, with a sigh : " But I must be preparing 
for another world." 

About noon President Davis visited his bedside, and tenderly 
taking the hand of his great cavalry-man, asked him how he felt. 
" Easy, but willing to die, if God and my country think I have 
fulfilled my destiny and done my duty." To the surgeon later 
in the afternoon he replied, when told that he could not live long: 
" I am resigned if it be God's will. I would like to see my wife. 
But God's will be done." 

His noble wife had been sent for, and was hastening to him, 
but she did not arrive until after his death. 

To the doctor, who was holding his wrist and counting his 
pulse, he said : " Doctor, I suppose I am going fast now. It 
will soon be over. But God's will be done. I hope I have ful- 
filled my destiny to my country and my duty to God." Turning 
to Rev. Dr. Joshua Peterkin, of the Episcopal Church, of which 
General Stuart had long been a consistent member, he asked 
him to sing : 

" Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in Thee," 

and he himself joined in the song with all the strength he could 
summon. 

He joined with fervor in prayer with the ministers present, 
and again said, just before he passed away: "I am going fast 
now; I am resigned; God's will be done." And thus the dash- 



104 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

ing soldier quietly " fell on sleep," and left behind the record of 
a noble life, and a simple trust in Christ — the prophecy of a 
blissful immortality, where charging squadrons and clashing 
sabres never disturb the " rest that remaineth for the people of 
God." 

General John B. Gordon, of Georgia (now governor of that 
grand old Commonwealth), who rose from the captaincy of a 
company to command the remnant of the old " Stonewall " corps, 
and to win a reputation as one of the most brilliant soldiers 
which the war produced, was one of the most active of our 
Christian workers, and exerted a fine influence in the army. 

He was accustomed to lead prayer-meetings in his command, 
and during seasons of special revival I have heard him, with 
eloquent words and tearful eyes, make powerful appeals to his 
men to come to Christ, and have seen him go off into the woods 
with his arms about some ragged private, that he might point 
him to " the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the 
world." 

He was always the active friend and helper of his chaplains, 
and did everything in his powder to promote the spiritual welfare 
of his men. 

He wrote Dr. A. E. Dickinson, Superintendent of Army Col- 
portage, the following stirring appeal, which was published in 
\hQ Religious Herald at the time and is well worth preserving, not 
only as illustrating his character and influence, but as showing 
also the condition of things in the army at that time : 

" Camp near Orange Court House, Virginia, September 6, 1863. 
''Brother Dickinson : Why is it that our good people at home, 
of the various denominations, are not sending more missionaries 
to the army ? Every effort is made to supply the soldiers with 
* creature comforts,' and I believe you find little difficulty in 
raising money to furnish religious reading to the army-^but 
why is it so few preachers are sent us ? They have either con- 
cluded that soldiers are so 'demoralized' that it is useless to 
preach to them, or else there is criminal indifference on this 
subject They cannot, after all that has been written on this 
point, be ignorant of the fact that there is a great lack of minis- 
ters in the army — that many whole brigades of one or two 
thousand men are without a chaplain and rarely hear a sermon. 
But, suppose I tell these g'ood Christians^ who think preaching to 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 105 

a body of soldiers is * casting pearls before swine,' that these 
men, exposed as they are to temptations on every side, are more 
eager to h'sten to the Gospel than are the people at home ; that 
the few missionaries they have been kind and generous enough 
to lend us for a few weeks are preaching — not in magnificent 
temples, it is true, and from gorgeous pulpits on Sabbath days, 
to empty benches, but daily, in the great temple of nature, and 
at night, by heaven's chandeliers — to audiences of from one to 
two thousand men, anxious to hear of the way of life. Suppose 
I tell them that many men of this army, neglected, as I mustssY 
they have been by Christians at home, are daily professing 
rehgion — that men, grown old in sin, and who never blanched 
in the presence of the foe, are made to tremble under the sense 
of guilt, and here in the forests and the fields are being converted 
to God — that young men, over whose departure from the paternal 
roof and pious influences have been shed so many and bitter 
tears, have been enabled under the preaching of a few faithful 
ministers to give to parents and friends at home such assurances 
as to change those bitter tears into tears of rejoicing. Suppose 
I tell them these things and assure them of the great encourage- 
ment afforded every missionary now laboring in this field, will it 
arouse them to act? or will each church admit the necessity of 
action, and yet conclude that * our brethren of the neighboring 
church ought to send their preacher, but really we can't give 
ours, even for a month ? ' 

*' Let them beware lest, while they look upon the soldiers as 
too 'demoralized' to be benefited by preaching, the soldiers 
ascertain that they are the ' demoralized ' portion of the army of 
the Cross. 

" I close by telling you, lhat in the last few weeks nearly two 
hundred in this single brigade have been added to the different 
churches. Yours, etc., 

"J.B.Gordon." 

Let us hope that this gallant and accomplished soldier, whom 
Georgia has honored with a seat in the United States Senate 
and now as governor of the Commonwealth, may be in this 
high position as outspoken for Christ, and may exert as decided 
a religious influence as he used to do among his ragged boys in 
the camp ! 

General D. H. Hill, and General Ewell, after his profession of 



106 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

conversion, and others of our higher officers, were equally as 
pronounced, and just as ready to " stand up for Jesus." 

But I have space for only a few illustrations of the Christian 
character and influence of officers of less rank. 

Colonel Lewis Minor Coleman, Professor of Latin in the 
University of Virginia, was one of the noblest sacrifices which 
the old Commonwealth laid on the altar during those terrible 
years of trial, and his death was widely mourned, especially 
by the large circle of his old pupils and army comrades who 
will, I am sure, be glad to have reproduced here the following 
sketch of him as a CJmstiaJi soldier, taken from an address de- 
livered before his old command by Rev. Dr. J. L. Burrows, of 
Richmond, and widely circulated, in tract form, in the army. I 
only regret that I have not space to insert the whole of the elo- 
quent sketch of " The Christian Scholar and Soldier." But the 
following extract gives his record as a peerless soldier, and an 
account of his glorious death : 

" The portentous clouds threatening the rushing tempest of 
war threw their gloomy shadows over these serene and happy 
scenes. Professor Coleman promptly settled for himself the 
course to be pursued in the issues that were forced upon us. 
* He believed in the sovereignty of his native State ; he believed 
that the rights and privileges guaranteed to us in the Constitu- 
tion had been disregarded by our Northern foes ; and he ear- 
nestly believed that nothing remained for the South but the ex- 
ercise of the right of secession or revolution. Virginia was in- 
vaded ; his allegiance was due to Virginia, and was only subor- 
dinate to his allegiance to his God. God and the State alike 
demanded that Virginia's sons should defend her borders.' He 
deemed it his duty to remain at his post in the university until 
the close of the session. Even under the impulses of his fer- 
vent patriotism, he would not abandon duties to which he con- 
sidered himself pledged. With the close of the term he ten- 
dered his resignation to the Board of Visitors. The board re- 
fused to accept it, keeping the place vacant for his return at the 
termination of the war. 

''When the early expedition to Harper's Ferry was deter- 
mined on, many of the students at the university volunteered 
for that enterprise. A younger brother asked Professor Cole- 
man's advice concerning his joining the company. * It is your 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 107 

duty, Malcolm,* said he, * to decide for yourself.' Shortly after 
his decision was made, he said to his wife : * Malcolm has de- 
termined to go, and I am much pleased. I wanted him to go, 
but felt that I ought not to influence him.' 

" He remained with the gathering students at the depot till a 
late hour, encouraging and cheering them until the cars bore 
them away. Then throwing himself upon his sleepless bed, he 
"exclaimed : * I am so sorry I did not make a speech to those no- 
h\e boys. The poor fellows called me out, too. Some of them 
( may never see again, and, upon the verge of so important a 
'?tep, I failed to urge upon them the performance of their whole 
duty in this matter, and especially to remind them of their ac- 
countability to God. How I regret that I did not speak to 
them.' 

*' Mr. Coleman loved his profession. He was admirably 
fitted for it. He had reached the most prominent position to 
which intellectual ambition can aspire in this country, for there 
is no literary height to which any man can climb from a profes- 
sorship in the University of Virginia. He is there upon the 
summit of his profession — there are no peaks above. 

" On tlie other hand, he had no predilection, no training, no 
taste for a soldier's life, no aspirations for military renown. 
Personally such a life was intensely distasteful. He anticipated 
the service with shrinking repugnance. It severed him from his 
dear family. It broke up his loved habits of study. It took 
him from his books, which were his delight. It dispelled the 
serenity and calm in which he found his highest enjoyment. 

** Nor was there any compulsion to drive him to the army. 
He was beyond the reach of all conscription laws. He was 
specially exempted. His friends urged upon him the impor- 
tance of his position in the university. Some of the faculty 
protested against his resignation. Many argued with him that 
he could do more good to the country by remaining to aid in 
the education of the neglected youth. Every dissuasive that 
affection and prudence could suggest was employed to turn 
him from his purpose. 

" But in this, as in everything else, he was earnestly conscien- 
tious. He felt sad because of the necessity, yet, impelled by a 
fervent patriotism, he would not shrink from the duty which he 
felt he owed to his country. 

"A cherished friend has well said: * In the hour of his coun- 



108 

try's trial, when the call was made for her children, he relin- 
quished his cherished pursuits, his high and well-merited posi- 
tion, fortune, comfort, home, all — and at last, even life itself — 
and freely chose to stand, where his unfailing perception of the 
right pointed him, by his country's standard in the battle for 
freedom. Few, even in these days of sacrifice, have placed a 
richer gift on the altar of liberty.' 

** Immediately after the first battle of Manassas, he returned 
to his native county, enlisted in the service and received au- 
thority to raise an artillery company. Some discouraged the at- 
tempt by representing that most, who could be induced to volun- 
teer, had already entered the army — that attempts of a similar 
kind had been made and failed. But he listened to no discour- 
agements, and entered upon the work with characteristic energy. 
He appointed meetings and made speeches which roused the pa- 
triotic ardor of the people like a trumpet-blast. His graphic 
pictures of the perils of the country, and of the methods by 
which it might be delivered from oppression, and rendered free 
and prosperous, often drew tears from eyes unaccustomed to 
weep. 

** In beating up recruits, he visited the house of a poor, aged 
woman, who resided on his farm, inquiring after her son. The 
son was already in the service. In speaking of his visit, the old 
lady said : ' Captain Coleman looked about and found my Bi- 
ble ; he read to me, and then we knelt down, nobody but him 
and me, and such a beautiful prayer as he offered I never heard 
in all my life. Just to think ! that he should take so much inter- 
est in a poor old woman like me ! He certainly must be the best 
man in the world.' 

"Such incidents illustrate the predominating spiritual-minded- 
ness of the man. 

" By such influences and energies a very large company was 
speedily recruited, which was mustered into service, under Mr. 
Coleman as captain, in August, 1861. 

" He now devoted himself with characteristic energy and per- 
severance to the acquisition of the military knowledge necessary 
for his position. He soon learned all that the books could teach 
him. I visited him in camp on one occasion, by his invitation, 
to preach for his company, and found him drawn up in line, 
with a few of his brother-officers, receiving instructions in prac- 
tical sword exercises. He omitted nothing that promised to 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 109 

promote his intelligence and efficiency as an officer. The friend 
to whom I am indebted for so much that is interesting in this 
sketch says : ' By study and continued practice he made himself 
one of the best artillery officers in the service, and his company 
also became one of the most thoroughly drilled and efficient in the 
army. Here, again, his power in controlling men was strikingly 
exhibited. Strict in discipline and in every requirement of duty, 
he was just and impartial, sedulous to supply all the wants of 
his men, furnishing them, when necessary, with shoes and cloth- 
ing from his own purse, nursing them personally when sick — 
kind and affable at all times. He set the example of duty him- 
self and required all to come up to the standard.' He soon 
gained the confidence and affection of his men. He made them 
feel that he relied upon them, and that they might depend upon 
him. 

** Captain Dance, of Powhatan, was preparing a company at 
the same time and place for the field, and was consequently 
thrown into close intercourse with Captain Coleman. He says : 
* I was struck, upon my first acquaintance with him, with his 
genial temperament and fine social qualities, rendering him at 
all times a most agreeable companion ; but I soon learned to 
admire still more his untiring energy, perseverance and industry, 
as exhibited in his endeavors to equip and drill his company, 
and perfect himself and them in the necessary knowledge of 
tactics and military science. The first attempts at drilling his 
company excited a smile among those who had longer experi- 
ence; but in a very short time his company was well drilled. 
His was a spirit never satisfied with mediocrity. Whatever he 
undertook he desired to do well and he always succeeded. 
Although his company was mustered in after mine,' continues 
Captain Dance, * yet he succeeded in getting all ready and start- 
ing before me.' 

'* In this relation, too, he manifested an earnest, practical 
Christian spirit. He provided, so far as possible, for the relig- 
ious instruction and culture of his men. Upon every suitable 
opportunity he solicited ministers of the Gospel to preach for 
them. He conversed with them personally concerning their 
need of piety toward God, and trust in Him as a preparation for 
the trials of life and for death. 

" Regularly, when the bugle sounded the reveille in early 
dawning, and the tattoo in the evening, he was among the first 



110 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

to come from his tent, and taking his position in front of the line 
with uncovered head and raised hands, Hke a father at his family 
altar, he solemnly and in clear tones, that reached the extremity 
of the line, implored the favor and blessing of Almighty God 
upon his men. This, it is true, was not required by the regula- 
tions. It Avas seen and felt to be the sincere and voluntary devo- 
tion of a pious heart. 

" In speaking of these religious exercises held at the head of 
his company, Captain Kirkpatrick characterizes them as * those 
direct, earnest, deeply fervent prayers for which he was remark- 
able,' and then says : ' Indeed, he had to a degree that few have, 
the real gift of prayer. I shall never forget the prayer he offered 
on the sad and memorable Sabbath morning when we com- 
menced our retreat from Centreville. His heart was very tender 
and very full, and it seemed to unburden itself into the sympathiz- 
ing ear of that Saviour who is God over all, blessed forever, and 
who yearns over all His troubled children with such unspeakable 
tenderness.' 

"'I have listened on some of these occasions,' says another 
brother-officer, ' when his prayers, giving evidence of a highly 
cultivated intellect, yet marked by deep humility and fervent 
sincerity, left the impression that he would have been a most 
efficient minister of the Gospel, had he been called to that holy 
office.' 

''Another says : ' Though I always had a high opinion of his 
power and felicity of expression, yet in these extempore prayers 
I was frequently struck with the force and eloquence, and always 
with the earnestness and fervor of his petitions.' 

" Oh ! if such concern were generally exhibited by officers, 
nominally pious, for the higher, the spiritual welfare of their 
men, how much more easily would they be controlled; how 
effectively restrained from wrong and encouraged in right. Do 
such exhibitions of solicitous piety weaken discipline ? Rathef 
do they strengthen it, by superadding a sense of obligation to 
the army regulations. Do they diminish courage ? He is the 
bravest fighter, other things being equal, who has the firmest 
trust in God. Even infidelity can see that such a spirit must 
make heroes of an army. 

" Under such influences and energies it is not wonderful that 
his company became one of the best disciplined and most efficient 
in the service. At a trial of skill between several rival companies, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. Ill 

soon after reaching Manassas, his command was pronounced, 
by competent judges, to be the second, if not the best in the 
corps. 

" Especially was this company distinguished at the bloody 
battle of Sharpsburg, where, in the heat of the conflict and amid 
severe suffering, it gallantly maintained its position, and nobly 
aided in the defeat of the enemy. 

"The day before his company was ordered to th*e field his 
aged grandmother visited him at Richmond. They were together 
at the residence of a mutual friend. Captain Coleman went into 
her room just before she retired and, kneeling at the dear old 
lady's feet, said : ' Grandma, I shall leave in the morning before 
you are up, and I may never see you again in this world, 
for this is a serious, earnest work which I have undertaken, and 
I want you to bless your child before he parts from you.' And 
placing the hand of this aged saint upon his head he received 
from her, who for more than fifty years has been a bright and 
shining light in the Church of God, the patriarchal blessing. In 
imitating this beautiful ancient and oriental custom is evinced 
Mr. Coleman's familiarity and reverence for the old Bible. When 
a child of six years old, for so early he could read readily, that 
old grandmother would spread the family Bible upon a chair, 
and Lewis, drawing his little stool before it, would sit and pore 
over its narratives for hours together. It was not unnatural, 
then, that the association of childhood strengthened in youth 
and manhood ; that his whole spirit, imbued with the fitness and 
beauty of the old customs, should have led him. to feel 'that his 
heart would be lightened and encouraged in the discharge of a 
sacred though dangerous duty by receiving from the eldest of the 
family ' the formal patriarchal blessing. 

" His company was ordered to Manassas and formed a part 
of General Pendleton's reserve corps of artillery. Time will 
not permit us to do more than follow the track of the company 
in the retreat from Manassas, the march to Yorktown and the 
withdrawal from the Peninsula, the battles around Richmond 
and the marches to the Rappahannock and to Maryland, in all 
of which it honorably participated. 

"At the reorganization of the army, in 1862, Captain Coleman 
was appointed major of artillery and soon after was elected 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Regiment of Virginia Artillery. 

" Colonel Coleman was always to be found in his place, never 



Il2 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

absenting himself from the post of duty except from necessity, 
and once, for several weeks, from sickness. 

" During the battles around Richmond he was, by a mistake 
of position, for a short time in the hands of the enemy. But he 
managed, by his coolness and presence of mind, to extricate him- 
self Speaking of the terrible storm of battle he said, that while 
beyond conception it was awful, yet a relying trust in God gave 
him perfect confidence and peace. One of his fellow-officers re- 
marked that the earnestness and sincerity of his ejaculatory 
prayers upon the battle-field convinced him * that the soul of 
Colonel Coleman was always fixed upon the one sure hope and 
source of strength.' 

" * We were drawn up in line of battle,' says Captain Kirk- 
patrick, * on the eastern bank of the Chickahominy, with the 
advancing enemy in front, on a Sabbath morning in April or 
May, 1862. Captain Coleman approached where I was lying, 
took from my hands the Bible I had been reading and turning to 
the Eighty-fourth Psalm read it and commented upon its beauti- 
ful verses. I can now recall the earnest, longing tones in which 
he repeated, *' How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of 
Hosts ! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of 
the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God!" 
He drew a parallel between David's condition when he com- 
posed that psalm and ours as we had been driven by our enemies, 
and spoke of the wonderful adaptedness of God's word, when 
even such circumstances as those around us only the more 
forcibly impressed its truths and beauties upon the soul. He 
then went on to speak in glowing words of the sweet privileges 
of God's house, the solemn assemblies of His saints, their bliss- 
ful communion with Him in all the ordinances of His worship. 
The impression made upon me by that reading and those run- 
ning comments will never be effaced from my memory, and 
while my soul retains its powers the Eighty-fourth Psalm will 
be associated in my mind with Lewis Minor Coleman and that 
beautiful but anxious Sabbath morning.' 

" He was prevented by severe illness from accompanying the 
army into Maryland in 1862. Even then his active spirit chafed 
under the necessary restraint. He requested a brother-officer to 
send for him if there was any prospect of a battle. In the dead 
hour of night he heard a rap at the door. * 'Tis a message for 
me,' said he, ' and I must go.' Said his wife, ' you cannot go ; 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 113 

you have not strength to walk across the room.' ' No matter/ 
he rephed, * I will go ; God will give me strength.' Fortunately 
the message related to some other matter. 

"A short time before the battle of Fredericksburg he resumed 
his command. Three days before that fatal battle, while riding 
with a friend towards Port Royal, his friend remarked: * In the 
seven days' fight around Richmond I fought literally over my 
father's grave ; my gun being but a few yards from it. If I 
should fall in this war I should prefer to fall upon such, to me, 
sacred ground.' Colonel Coleman replied, * If I am killed in 
this war I should prefer to fall here, for hard by my father lies 
buried.' Three days after, not far distant, he received his mortal 
wound. 

" I am permitted to make a few extracts from letters written 
during his services in the army, which allow us a glance into 
his inner life, and reveal to us a little of his pure and loving 
heart. 

" In immediate expectation of a battle near Yorktown, April 
27, 1862, he thus writes : 

" ^My Dearest Mother: I have a little time this Sabbath after- 
noon, and will write a few lines to tell you how strongly, at this 
last moment, when no one knows what an hour may bring forth, 
the thought of all the love and tenderness and fostering care 
bestowed in my childhood comes over your loviwg son. If I 
have ever caused you needless trouble, let me now ask your for- 
giveness. All that I am, all the happiness I have ever enjoyed, 
is, 1 believe, due to you, and from you in great measure, under 
Providence, comes my hope of immortal life. I thank God that 
I can and do love, from my heart of hearts, all who are near to 
me — father, mother, grandma (God bless her), brothers, sisters, 
wife, children, all 

"* I pray and hope that I may be spared to see you all in 
peace and happiness again. No one can tell what his fate may 
be in the bloody struggle which impends, and if I fall I want you 
all to know how dearly I love you, and to know further that my 
only hope and confidence is in God, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord.' 

** In writing of his beloved wife, who, while visiting her sick 
father, had been surprised and detained within the enemy's lines, 
8 



114 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

and separated from her children, after expressing his pain and 
regret, he says : * But it was right for her to go and see her 
dying father, notwithstanding the suffering it involves. Suffering 
encountered in the path of duty can never do harm.' 

*' Upon the death of the youngest brother of the family he 
thus writes, just a month before his own death-summons : 

" 'My Dearest Mother : It is with heartfelt anguish that I have 
just learned of dear Willie's death. I know your heart is bowed 
down with grief at the loss of your youngest born — so sweet, so 
gentle, so lovely in all respects. I always regarded him as the 

lamb of the flock Can you not, my dear mother, in this 

dark hour, put your whole trust and confidence in our Heavenly 
Father, who doeth all things w^ell? God grant that we may all 
strive to be little children, as bur dear Willie was.' 

" After speaking of the grief of two young brothers who were 
with him in the service, he adds : 

** * I trust that this great affliction, which for the present 
seemeth so very grievous, may bring to them a far more ex- 
ceeding and eternal weight of glory. I trust, too, that I shall 
be stirred up to be a better guide, both by example and precept, 
to my tw^o young brothers so strangely associated with me, after 
so many years of separation.' 

" But I must hasten to the sad close of this sketch. Colonel 
Coleman was on duty with his regiment at the battle of Fred- 
ericksburg, on the 13th of December, under General Jackson, 
and, with unflinching courage and entire self-possession, main- 
tained his position on that bloody field. 

'* * He might,' says Captain Dance, ' without any dereliction 
of duty, have kept out of that battle altogether, for when his 
regiment was brought up other artillery had already occupied 
the position. But he was anxious to render some service, and 
sought out the general commanding that part of the line, and 
obtained leave to place some of his guns in position, and two 
guns of my battery were all he could find room for, and it w^as 
at one of these that he received the wound which finally proved 
mortal. His horse had been killed, and, though on foot and 
wounded, he still insisted upon remaining on the ground, and 
even offered his assistance in filling up a ditch, that my guns 
might be carried over to advance on the enemy.' 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 115 

" Late in the day he was struck by a ball in the leg, just be- 
low the knee. He deemed the wound a slight one, and, as we 
have seen, refused to leave the field until by increasing faintness 
he was compelled to do so, but not until the victory had been 
decided for our arms. When his wound was dressed, he play- 
fully remarked that it would be a * good furlough ' for awhile. 
He was borne to the house of Mr. Yerby, in Spotsylvania county. 
Here, when found by his uncle, Rev. James D. Coleman, he was 
surrounded by the wounded and dying, to whom, in his benevo- 
lent self-forgetfulness, he was striving to administer such aid and 
consolation as was in his power. He spoke more of his suffer- 
ing comrades than of himself, and especially expressed his sym- 
pathy and sorrow for a terribly mutilated young officer who was 
lying by his side. He was removed to Edge Hill, Caroline 
county, the residence of his brother-in-law, Mr. Samuel Schooler. 
Soon his wound assumed a threatening and dangerous character. 
Virulent erysipelas supervened, and he suffered intense agony. 
By profuse discharges from his wound, and by constant, severe 
pain, his frame became emaciated and reduced to little more than 
a skeleton. Every attention which the skill of physicians and 
the affectionate care and nursing of the assembled family could 
render could only retard, but could not overcome the steady 
approaches of coming death. His friends were unwilling to be- 
lieve that one for whom they so ministered, for whose recovery 
they so fervently prayed, upon whose continued life so many 
hopes and interests were depending, must be taken from them. 
But the gravest fears were soon excited, and before long Colonel 
Coleman himself began to anticipate his speedy departure from 
earth. He endured with marvellous patience and uncomplaining 
cheerfulness the most excruciating agonies of body. His faith 
in the rectitude and benevolence of his covenant God never 
wavered, rather steadily increased as death approached nearer 
and still nearer. And now the beautiful light of his pious spirit, 
like the glories of a clear autumn sunse-t, illumed the chamber 
in which he was gasping away his life, and lighted up, with sweet 
resignation and hope, the hearts of his lamenting kindred. In 
the early stages of his disease he hoped — expected to recover. 
He had much for which to live, and few men could better enjoy 
or adorn life, or render it more useful than he. He now decided, 
what before he had often pondered, that, with recovered health, 
he would devote his life and talents to the more direct service of 



116 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

God in the work of the Gospel ministry. 'At the close of the 
war,' said he, ' more than ever will laborers be needed to reap in 
the harvest-field of the Gospel, I may do some good in that 
sphere of labor.' But a higher ministry, in a brighter sphere, 
had been appointed for him. ' I hope I shall live,' said he to a 
friend ; * I think I can do good — be of some use ; but God knows 
best and His will be done.' In the solitary night, when a troubled 
sleep could be induced only by means of powerful opiates, his 
mind would wander fitfully over the scenes of the past. Now he 
would imagine himself in presence of a class of pupils teaching, 
and he would recite rapidly in Latin and French, and then he 
seemed at the head of his company in the battle and uttered the 
stern word of command. Then the names of distant friends, as 
in cheerful and social converse, passed his lips ; then the dear 
names of * wife,' * mother,' * child,' in loving murmurs proved 
whither his restless thoughts were turning, and always the de- 
votional ejaculation of praise to God and of fervent prayer for 
grace and strength would mingle with his wildest wanderings, 

** In one of these restless hours, shortly before he died, he 
roused himself up and turning to his brother said : * Malcolm, 
did I die as a Christian soldier ought to die ? ' — then entirely 
recovering consciousness, he smiled and said : ' I thought I had 
died on the battle-field.' 

** For ninety-eight weary days he endured physical agonies, 
relieved by only occasional respites from pain, such as probably 
few men have ever been called to bear. The incurable erysipelas, 
the inflammation involving the whole limb, and extending by 
sympathy to his whole frame, the frequent incisions and prob- 
ings, the drain from incessant suppuration, the inaccessible ulcers 
originating in his changeless position on the couch, all combined 
to produce excruciating pain. Yet all was borne with a patience, 
resignation, even cheerfulness, that has, perhaps, never been sur- 
passed. When- convinced that there was no rational hope of his 
recovery, he fixed the eye of his faith steadily upon the bright 
home in heaven, and seeming to enter already into communion 
with the beloved ones who had gone before, looked beyond the 
interval over which he must pass, and lived as though already in 
the light of his Redeemer's glory. He was more than patient; 
he was exultant, at times enraptured. 

" Referring to the fact that he was in the neighborhood where 
much of his youth had been spent, he said : ' Here were most of 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 117 

the sins of my early life committed, and here do I come to die, 
and to find them all forgiven through the mercy and love of 
Jesus.' 

" ' Why, it is but a short trip,' said he to his weeping friends. 
* It is only taking a little journey, and then safe and happy for- 
ever. It is but a trip ; we shall all meet again soon, and I want 
to start and be with Christ.' 

" ' I had hoped,' said he, * to do good, living as a minister of 
the Gospel, but perhaps God will make my death a ministry for 
the conversion of those dear ones who are yet out of Christ. I 
may do more good by dying than by living.' These hopes have 
not been in vain. One of his brothers has already united with 
the Church of Christ. Another dear friend, to whom he had ap- 
pealed in a former serious illness, and to whom, later, he sent 

this message : * Tell Charles M that I once before knocked 

at the door of his heart, and that he must strive to meet me in 
heaven,' writes me, * his warning from the. deathbed, I trust, has 
not been in vain. I feel that, under God, I now have a hope of 
a better life.' He called all the household, even the servants, to 
his bedside, and tenderly gave them his dying counsels and 
bade them loving farewells. He asked them what messages he 
should bear for them to the ransomed loved ones who had gone 
before. 

" Referring to the recent death of his youngest brother, he said, 
with a sweet. smile, to his brother. Dr. Coleman: 'Dear little 
Willie ! I shall be more fortunate than you were, Robert; you 
went to Lexington to see him and were disappointed, but I 
shall not be disappointed. I shall certainly see him.' 

" Turning to his beloved wife, who had been an unwearied 
watcher and ministrant during his lingering illness, says Rev. 
Mr. Coleman, ' he pronounced upon her character and life a 
most tender and beautiful eulogy, and in words that seemed to 
gush from the depths of his soul, praised, and thanked, and 
blessed her, for the happiness and joy which her love had 
brought to his heart and life.' 

*' He charged those who ministered to him with pious mes- 
sages to the absent. ' Tell General Jackson and General Lee/ 
said he, * they know how Christian soldiers can fight, and I 
wish they could see now how a Christian soldier can die.' 

" In communicating this message to General Jackson, Dr. Cole- 
man wrote : * I doubt not, general, that the intimate acquaintance 



118 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

with yourself which my brother desired on earth, will be vouch- 
safed to him in heaven, and that when your career of usefulness 
here is ended, " in the green pastures and beside the still waters " 
of a brighter sphere you and he will meet in sweet communion 
and fellowship, and that your earthly acquaintance will be puri- 
fied and perfected into an eternal friendship.' 

" General Jackson's response was characteristic. He writes : 

" ' Had your brother lived, it was my purpose to become bet- 
ter acquainted with him. I saw much less of him than I de- 
sired. I look beyond this life to an existence where I hope to 
know him better. 

" 'Very truly, your friend, 

'* * T. J. Jackson.' 

"When scarcely five weeks had passed, these anticipations were 
realized, and these sainted spirits met, where no sounds nor per- 
ils of war will evermore disturb the holy repose and bliss of 
their communion. 

" As Arnold had been his model as a teacher, so Havelock was 
his model as a Christian soldier. And almost the words of 
Havelock were those which he transmitted in his dying mes- 
sage to his own beloved generals. 

" Once only, when writhing in agony intense, did his faith for a 
brief space seem to fail, and he expressed a dread that God's 
face was hid from him. A few days after, he recalled this ex- 
pression of doubt to mind, and said : * Doctor, you remember I 
said I did not feel God's presence with me. I could not hear 
the rustling of the angels' pinions. Now I know that he is near 
me, and I feel the breath of the angels' wings.' 

" He exacted from his younger brother, Dr. Malcolm Fleming, 
who watched constantly at his bedside, a promise that he would 
let him know when his end was approaching. When his feeble, 
sinking pulse indicated the speedy termination of his sufferings, 
Malcolm said to him, with throbbing heart and streaming eyes, 
'Brother Lewis, you remember my promise.' 'Yes, Malcolm; 
do you think I am dying ? ' He could only bow his head in 
answer. Immediately, with as much composure as he had ever 
given a lecture to a class, he dictated his last will and then fell 
asleep as calmly as in childhood. When he awoke he ex- 
pressed surprise that he still lived. He had fallen asleep amid 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 119 

the farewells of loving lips and the suppressed wailings of 
bleeding hearts. He had hoped to waken in heaven. ' Come, 
Lord Jesus, come quickly, O come quickly/ was his frequent 
prayer. He was asked, * Would you not prefer to stay with 
us ? ' * No ! no ! ' he replied ; ' I prefer to go.' They sang, at 
his request, such hymns as — 

* Jesus, and shall it ever be, 

A mortal man ashamed of Thee ; ' 

and — 

* How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, 
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word.' 

And in feeble tones he joined in the sacred songs. Late in the 
night he asked them to sing the hymn commencing — " Jesus, I 
love Thy charming name," and the last verse he sung with 
them in faltering, dying tones — 

* I'll speak the honors of thy name 

"With my last laboring breath — 
And dying, clasp Thee in my arms, 
The antidote of death.' 

" Some one said to him, 'You will soon be in heaven ; are you 
willing to go ? ' ' Perfectly willing ; certainly I am.' They were 
his last words, and soon, in the early dawn of the morning, on 
the 2 1st of March, 1863, he fell asleep in Jesus. 

** When the summons of death comes to us, may we each be 
ready to say — * Perfectly willing ; certainly I am.' 

'' Young men ! we have thus presented, for your contemplation, 
an imperfect survey of the life of a Christian scholar and sol- 
dier. The extraordinary deeds of some world-worshipped hero 
or fabulous demigod might, perhaps, have better amused or en- 
tertained the multitude. But such a sketch as this cannot fail 
to be more useful, in so far as it is practical and imitable. Here 
are excellencies you may attain, a character you may emulate, a 
life you may copy. 

" * If no faults shade the picture,' to quote the beautiful senti- 
ment of Rev. Dr. Hoge, in speaking of another of Virginia's 
noble sons fallen in battle, * it is not because I have hidden 
them from my readers, but because grace has hidden them from 
me.' 

" It may be true that Colonel Coleman's natural mental endow- 
ments, his original physical capabilities were of a higher order 



120 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

than God has given to most. But as a practical life I have en- 
deavored to sketch one that is plainly imitable. 

" Perhaps the most prominent characteristic of his moral na- 
ture was his conscientiousness. In little matters, as in those 
more important, he was accustomed to ask, and to act upon the 
answer, what is duty ? 

" * His conceptions of duty,' says Major Venable, one of his 
earliest and latest friends, * were as true and direct as his per- 
formance of it was thorough and exact.' This is imitable by 
all. 

" Persevering industry, including earnest attention to little 
things, was another marked feature of Lewis Coleman's life. 
In his studies, earlier and later, in all the practical routine of 
daily requirements, in the study and lecture-room, on the farm 
and in the camp, whatever service devolved upon him was 
promptly performed. He seldom had arrearages of business to 
bring up. He pushed his work steadily before him, rarely need- 
ing to drag it along after its appropriate hours. Such an ex- 
ample may be wisely copied. 

** He was uniformly cheerful and social. He always had a 
pleasant word for all he met, even for servants. His lively wit, 
without a shade of malice or ill-nature ; his honest ringing 
laugh, the wonderful sprightliness, felicity and tact of his or- 
dinary conversation, drawing as from a perennial spring spar- 
kling rills of facts, fancies and illustrations, made him a most 
genial and instructive companion. 

" He evinced in all his life the most unselfish benevolence of 
spirit. He sought to promote the happiness of others rather 
than his own. He lived for others rather than for himself No 
friend ever asked him for a favor who did not meet a cheerful 
and ready response, if the bestowment was within the compass 
of his means and the approval of his conscience. 

"And for the happiness and welfare of the loved ones of his 
own family circle, no sacrifice was deemed too severe. There 
seemed only one earthly love that could surpass that of mother, 
father, brothers, sisters, wife and children for him, and that was 
his love for them. 

"And this trait of heart, too, is imitable. 

" Throwing its soft light over all these excellencies was his 
beautiful humility. He rarely made himself, or anything that he 
did, the theme of conversation. ' He was a man of few profes- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 121 

sions,' says Major Venable, 'and his Christianity found more 
expression in action than words ; yet it was not difficult to read 
the clear simplicity of his life and character.' 

" He never seemed himself aware that there was anything es- 
pecially meritorious or unusual in his sweet, genial, benevolent 
life. He never seemed conscious, even upon his death-bed, that 
he had made any notable sacrifice in resigning his elevated po- 
sition at the university for his humble position in the army. 
He often spoke in desponding tones of the little he had accom- 
plished as a student and a Christian, and ever longed and strug- 
gled for higher attainments and higher usefulness. 

" Is not this temper worthy of imitation ? 

** The supreme, fostering, originating principle of all these ex- 
cellencies of life and heart was his piety. Early he learned that 
* beginning of wisdom — the fear of the Lord.' His piety was 
not the mere coloring that ornamented life ; it entered into the 
warp and woof of his inner nature. He loved God, and lived 
in daily communion with the Redeemer, and thus became ' a 
living epistle of Jesus Christ, known and read of all men.' 

" Have I not well said that his was an imitable life, and there- 
fore well worthy of delineation for the study of young men 
who are aiming at something beyond mere personal, selfish en- 
joyment — at an honorable, beneficent life ? 

" One who knew him well and loved him dearly has beautifully 
said: *As the dew, falling silently, refreshing and rendering 
fruitful the earth, and crystalizing upon the spires of grass and 
in the calyxs of flowers, crowns, as with diamonds, the brow of 
morning, so the unostentatious virtues of Lewis Minor Cole- 
man refreshed the hearts, gladdened and made fruitful in good 
deeds the lives of others ; and when the Sun of Righteousness 
shall arise, those virtues will shine more resplendently as gems 
in that crown which the Righteous Judge shall give to him on 
that day.' " 

In 1 87 1 Rev. John Lipscomb Johnson, B. A., of the University 
of Virginia (for the past fourteen years professor of English in 
the University of Mississippi), published a volume of 765 pages, 
containing sketches of nearly two hundred alumni of the Uni- 
versity of Virginia who fell in the " War between the States," 
and even then a number of names were omitted for lack of 
proper information. In eagerly reading these pages, in which 
Dr. Johnson has done a graceful service to his Alma Mater, 



122 

which should be gratefully remembered, I have been struck with 
the fact that a very large proportion of these men were humble, 
useful Christians ; and I might appropriately transfer to this book 
a number of these sketches as beautifully illustrating *' Christ in 
the Camp." The same may be said of the " Virginia Military 
Institute Memorial " volume prepared by Rev. C. D. Walker, and 
containing sketches of one hundred and seventy of its alumni 
who fell in the struggle for Southern independence. And no 
doubt the same would be true of the colleges of the South gen- 
erally. But I have space for only a part of the sketch of my 
old friend and brother. Rev. Dabney Carr Harrison, who was 
chaplain at the university when I was a student there, and of 
whose stainless life and efficient labors I could testify in strongest 
terms. I should insert the sketch prepared by the gifted and 
lamented Rev. Dr. Wm. J. Hoge, but, while I circulated thou- 
sands of copies in the army, I have been unable to secure a copy 
for my present use. 

I am fortunate, however, in being able to present the following 
extracts from the sketch prepared for *' The University Memorial " 
by the graceful pen of my honored and distinguished brother, 
Rev. Dr. M. D. Hoge, of Richmond, whom I first knew as an 
able and eloquent preacher in the camps, and whose *' abundant 
labors " seem to increase as the years go on. 

"REV. DABNEY CARR HARRISON, 
" Captain, Company K, Fifty-sixth Virginia Infantry. 

" To furnish a brief sketch of this faithful minister of Christ, 
this noble gentleman and valiant officer, who fell at Fort Donelson 
while cheering on his men and striking for the honor and inde- 
pendence of the young Confederacy, is to me an easy task, for 
I need only to abridge the carefully prepared memoir of him, 
written by my brother, the Rev, William J. Hoge, D. D., about a 
year before his own death. Short as was that memoir, it was 
composed so conscientiously, and was such a labor of love on the 
part of the writer, that I have little to add or supply, and need 
only say that the calmest review, after the lapse of years, only 
confirms my estimate of the fidelity and truthful beauty of that 
tribute to the memory of one so deserving of our love, and so 
worthy of a place among those whose names, embalmed with 
* our praises and our tears/ we transmit to those who come after 
us, in the pages of 'The University Memorial.' " 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 123 

After an exceedingly interesting sketch of Mr. Harrison's 
early life, education, and services as a minister (especially as 
chaplain at the University of Virginia), which I regret I am not 
able to reproduce, Dr. Hoge says : 

** But after many months of fruitful toil (in a new pastorate), 
his peaceful life was disturbed by the coming of our national 
'troubles. Dark shadows soon became darker realities. This 
sovereign Commonwealth was required to aid in beating down 
into degradation, and whipping back into servility, her free sisters 
of the further South, or join with them in their just independence, 
and throw her generous breast before them to receive the first 
blow of the tyrant's rod, and bear the brunt of his wrath. She 
obeyed her heart, exercised her right, and stood in the breach. 

*' In the battle of Bull Run he lost his gallant cou-sin. Major 
Carter H. Harrison. Three days later, at Manassas, his native 
soil was wet again by the blood of the only nephews of his mother, 
the only sons of their mother, Holmes and Tucker Conrad, and 
by the blood of his own pure and beautiful brother. Lieutenant 
Peyton Randolph Harrison. These four young men were all 
faithful servants of God. Their lives were lovely and useful. In 
His fear they fought. They were sustained by His grace when 
they fell. The Conrads were shot at the same moment, and 
falling side by side, lay, as in the sleep of childhood, almost in 
each other's arms. The younger of them was a student of the- 
ology, and was nearly ready, with glowing heart, to enter on the 
higher service of his Lord, in the ministry of the Gospel. 

" The noble deaths of these young men stirred the soul of 
Dabney Harrison to its lowest depths. From the beginning of 
the war he had longed to share the hardships and dangers of his 
compatriots. Nothing but his sacred office held him back for a 
moment. But now he hesitated no longer. His mind was made 
up. ' I must take my brother's place,' he calmly said, and nothing 
could turn him from that resolve. He left ' the quiet and still 
air of delightful studies,' left his loving people and sweet little 
home in Hanover, and, having raised a company by great per- 
sonal exertions, entered the service. 

*' Even then he would not have taken up the sword if he had 
been compelled to lay down the Bible ; he would not have be- 
come a captain, if he could not have remained a minister. He 
entered the army believing that his usefulness, even as a preacher 
of God's word, would be increased in that new and hazardous 
field. 



124 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

"And after he became fully enlisted in his work as a soldier, 
no one ever saw him even for a moment give way to a bitter 
spirit, or heard him speak a word unbecoming a minister of 
Christ. Several months after he entered the service, he said, 
with thankfulness and joy, that he had not been conscious of one 
revengeful feeling toward our enemies. No : he would fight for 
his country ; but he would not hate. He durst die, but not sin. 
Conscience, not passion, made him a soldier ; but who does not 
know that conscience is mightier than passion ! His valor was, 
through the grace of God, without fierceness : but like steel 
whose heat has been quenched in cold water, it was, therefore, 
all the firmer and keener, of higher polish and more fatal 
stroke. 

'* He spent the first three months after the organization of his 
company, in the Camp of Instruction, near Richmond, where I 
was in daily intercourse with him. In addition to my pastoral 
duties in the city, I served as chaplain in that camp during the 
years 1862 and 1863. Captain Harrison was with me longer 
than any other minister in the service, and delighted to avail 
himself of every opportunity of aiding me in my arduous work. 

" Whenever I was prevented by any cause from meeting my 
engagements, he was always ready to take my place ; and I had 
the most abundant evidence of the efficiency of his labors, and 
of the gratitude of the men for his efforts to promote their 
temporal and spiritual welfare. 

" During his stay, at one time several thousand troops were 
stationed at our camp, and Captain Harrison was, of course, 
brought i-nto contact with a large number of officers. Over 
these he exercised the most happy influence. 

" While no man was more inflexible in his adherence to his 
convictions of duty, or more prompt to rebuke whatever he 
believed to be wrong in principle or in conduct, yet his manner 
was so conciliating, such was the candor and kindijess of his dis- 
position, such his scrupulous respect for the rights and regard 
for the feelings of others, that he rarely gave offence, even when 
he attempted to repress what he deemed culpable. The very 
presence of one so frank and fearless in his bearing, so delicate 
and refined in his tastes, so pure and elevated in his principles, 
was ordinarily sufficient to check any exhibitions of profanity or 
vulgarity ; and, withal, he was so genial in his nature, so enter- 
taining in his conversation, and so obliging in his disposition, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 125 

that his presence was never regarded as imposing an irksome 
restraint, even in a company of the irreligious. 
" If others have shown 

' How awful goodness is,' 

it was Dabney Harrison's happy province to show how amiable 
and attractive it may appear, when thus illustrated in the life of 
a Christian gentleman and soldier. While he remained in our 
camp, he moved about as one whose superiority was tacitly 
acknowledged without exciting ill-will or en\'y; and when he 
left us, he was regretted as one whose place was not to be filled 
again. 

"While Captain Harrison's good work extended to the sur- 
rounding multitudes, his first anxiety was, of course, for his own 
men. He had gathered them and given them to the service. 
They were to follow him, it might be, to the death. They, of 
all others, would see what he actually was, as a servant of his 
country, as a servant of his God. 

" Therefore he sought to be, every day and in every thing, an 
example to them. He shared their hardships, and all so cheer- 
fully, that the most despondent could hardly fail to catch some 
quickening ray from his sunny spirit. As far as was possible, 
too, he made them share any comfort pertaining to his position. 
The inexperienced found in him a faithful guardian, the per- 
plexed went to him freely for counsel, and all the company felt 
that in him they had not only a brave and gallant commander, 
but a true friend. His usefulness was like a continual dew. He 
gave to his soldiers new impressions of the power and sweetness 
of the religion of Christ, when they saw how beautifully inno- 
cence could blend with wisdom ; how the very purity of woman 
could consist with the valor of man, just as whiteness and endur- 
ing substance are combined in marble ; and how the most 
uncompromising godliness could be interwoven with the elegance 
of the gentleman, while the devoutest piety but gave new fire to 
the ardor of the patriot. 

" It is unnecessary to dwell on the hardships of Captain Har- 
rison's winter campaign in the West — hard fare and harder lodg- 
ing, and constant exposure to the wet and cold. Whatever he 
bore, many thousands bore with him ; and there are multitudes 
of whom that may be said which is so true of him — no one ever 
saw him falter, no one ever heard him murmur. A brief extract 



126 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

from one of his letters may serve to show the pleasant spirit in 
which all these privations and annoyances were met : 

"'Bowling Green, Kentucky, January i8, 1862. 
" 'Mf Dear Father : I have been forcibly reminded to-day of 
an incident in Ruxton's travels. Out on a prairie he found a 
wretched-looking man, all alone in a pouring rain, stooping over 
a few smouldering embers, and singing : 

" ' How happy are we, 
Who from care are free. 
Oh ! why are not all 
Contented like me ? ' 

" * My tent is on a hill-side, and has a flue instead of a chimney. 
It rained hard all last night, has rained all of to-day, and is rain- 
ing yet. The water has risen in my tent, the fire has been 
drowned out, the floor is nearly all mud, and I have been writing 
all the morning in a chair stuck deep in this mud. My bed is 
kept out of it by some fence rails, and my larder is a basket on 
the ground at the bed's head, containing a piece of pork and a 
bag of flour. There is not a negro in Virginia that would not 
despise such lodgings, but I am " contented." I sleep soundly, 
work hard, eat heartily, and am fattening.' 

"A day or two later he writes: 'I have just finished a large 
stone chimney to my tent, and shall have it floored with poles 
to-morrow ; then I shall be in great state.' 

" On Monday night, February 10, six days before his death, 
he thus closes a long letter from the camp before Fort Donelson: 
* Oh, how all these adventures, with their perils and deliverances, 
their privations and blessings, do drive us to our God ! I want 
no other strength than the Lord Jehovah ; no other Redeemer 
than our blessed Saviour; no other Comforter than His Holy 
Spirit. I believe that when we do our duty the Lord will fight 
for us. I feel a constant, bright and cheery trust in Him. I 
think of my precious wife and little ones, and long for their 
society and caresses ; but I am satisfied that it is right that I 
should be here, and I await the development of His will. I 
think His mercy in making us His children, in spite of all our 
ill-desert, ought to make us willing meekly to bear all that He 
chooses to lay upon us.' 

'' Mightily as many earthly loves drew upon his soul, his Lord's 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 127 

love for him was more than all. He had 'prepared a place' 
for him * in His Father's House,' and now he desired his coming. 
Beyond the river, and before the throne, His voice was heard 
saying, * Father, I will that they whom Thou hast given me be 
with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.' And 
then from Mount Zion, which is above, came words which once 
sounded in thunder from Mount Sinai ; but now they came 
softly, and were unheard by any mortal ear. They were words 
of discharge and blessing, breathed in music that night over the 
pillow of the sleeping soldier : * Six days shalt thou labor and 
do all thy work ; but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy 
God.' 

" Six days for earth and labor ; only six. Then his eternal 
Sabbath would begin ; rest and worship and joy forever ! 

" The battle of Fort Donelson began on Wednesday. That 
night was spent in throwing up breastworks. His men say that 
no man in the company worked harder, or did more in this 
heavy labor, than * the captain.' Thursday night was cold and 
stormy. The rain fell in torrents on the weary watchers in the 
trenches, and, soon changing into sleet, their clothes froze upon 
them. By Friday evening. Captain Harrison's frame, never 
robust, gave way for a time, and he was compelled to retire to 
the hospital, where he lay quite sick all that night. Yet on 
Saturday morning, a great while before day, and against the 
remonstrances of his friends, he rose and returned to his 
command. 

" The officer who commanded the Fifty-sixth Regiment at this 
time, gave several instances of such zeal and daring on the part 
of Captain Harrison, that one cannot refrain from applying to 
him what Clarendon says of * that incomparable young man, 
Lord Falkland,' in his touching account of his death : * He had 
a courage of the most clear and keen temper, and so far from 
fear, that he seemed not without some appetite of danger.' 

" ' You ought to be braver than the rest of us,' said some of 
his brother-officers to Captain Harrisbn one day, after witnessing 
some exhibition of his serene fearlessness in danger. 

" * Why so? ' said he, pleasantly. 

" * Because,' said they, ' you have everything settled for eter- 
nity. You have nothing to fear after death.' 

" ' Well, gentlemen,' said he, solemnly, after a moment's pause, 
' you are right. Everything is settled, I trust, for eternity, and 
I have nothing to fear.' 



128 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

"As the sun rose on the morning of Saturday, it saw him 
enter the thick of the battle and wrestle valiantly with the foe. 
With dauntless heart he cheered on his men. They eagerly 
followed wherever he led. Their testimony is, that he never 
said, * Go on,' but always, ' Come on,' while ever before them 
flashed his waving sword. At length, with fear and pain, they 
saw his firm step faltering, his erect form wavering. He fell, 
and the fierce tide of battle swept on. It was impossible for his 
most devoted men to pause. And they best did his will by 
passing over his prostrate body, throwing themselves on the foe, 
and leaving him to die. * He had warred a good warfare, ever 
holding faith and a good conscience.' 

" Three balls had passed through his hat, without harming 
him; a fourth cut his temple; a fifth passed through his right 
lung ; and this was the fatal wound. 

" Two incidents of his dying hours are yet to be recorded. 
Calling, about noon, for one of his manuscript books, he took a 
pencil, and, with a trembling hand, feebly wrote these words : 

"'February i6, 1862. — Sunday. 
" * I die content and happy ; trusting in the merits of my 
Saviour Jesus ; committing my wife and children to their Father 
and mine. " ' Dabney Carr Harrison.' 

" Precious legacy of love and prayer ! Precious testimony of 
faith and blessedness ! 

"A little while before he died, he slept quietly for a few min- 
utes. In dreams his soul wandered back to yesterday's conflict. 
He was again in the battle. The company for which he had 
toiled and prayed and suffered so much was before him, and he 
was wounded — dying on the field. But even in dreams he had 
not lost 

*tli' unconquerable will, 
And courage never to submit or yield.' 

Starting out of sleep, he sat once more erect, and exclaimed : 
* Company K, you have no captain now ; but never give up ! 
never surrender ! ' 

" The arms of his faithful attendant received him as he rose, 
and now supported him tenderly as his drooping form grew 
heavier. With his head pillowed on a soldier's breast, he sank, 
peacefully as a babe, into that sleep which no visions of strife 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 129 

shall ever disturb. Thus he died, as he was born, on the Sab- 
bath. Thus was his life bounded on either hand by the Day of 
God. Care and conflict came between, but a Sabbath blessing 
was on it all, and then he entered on the higher * Sabbath of 
the Lord his God, eternal in the heavens.' " 

As an appropriate appendix to this sketch, and to show that 
neither of the brothers concerned in its preparation held Captain 
Harrison in higher regard than any others Avho knew him well, 
I append the following eloquent tribute to his memory, from the 
pen of the Rev. Joseph M. Atkinson, of Raleigh, North Caro- 
lina. It is taken from a Southern periodical, in which it was 
published in 1863 : 

" While our church or our country shall survive ; while free- 
dom, or religion, or learning, the noblest gifts of nature, or the 
brightest instincts of personal or hereditary worth, shall be treas- 
ured among men, never will the name and the memory of the 
Rev. Dabney Carr Harrison be forgotten; a gentleman, a scholar, 
a Christian, a minister, a martyr to his conscientious conviction 
of public duty and his uncalculating devotion to his country. 
Among the illustrious worthies of ancient story, among the 
deified heroes of ancient song, in the golden records of Grecian 
fame, .in the glowing chronicles of mediaeval knighthood, in the 
ranks of war, in the halls of learning, in the temple of religion, 
a nobler name is not registered than his, nor a nobler spirit 
mourned." 

Captain Hugh A. White, who graduated at Washington 
College, and was a student at Union Theological Seminary when 
the war broke out, was a specimen of the Christian officer well 
worthy of a full sketch in this chapter ; but space can be found 
for only brief extracts from the memoir of him written in 1864 
by his venerable father, Rev. Dr. W. S. White, then pastor of 
the Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Virginia. 

The sketch of his leaving home for the army is given in full, 
as it well illustrates the spirit not only of this noble young man, 
but of thousands of others of our " Boys in Gray : " 

" He remained at the seminary until his second session closed. 
He stood his examinations, attended the marriage of a friend, 
and reached home about the middle of May, 1 861. He was 
then twenty years and eight months of age. His appearance, 
though not indicative of serious disease, was such as to awaken 
some uneasiness in the minds of his friends. The professors 
9 



130 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

said he had confined himself too closely to his room and his 
books during the winter. His father feared that the privations 
and exposure of the camp might be fatal to his health, and held 
a full interview with him, in which he sought to convince him, 
that considering his age, his acquisitions, his tastes and habits, 
he could more effectually serve both God and his country by 
spending the summer as a colporter, than by entering the army 
at that time. He also urged, that after spending the summer in 
that way, he might then, in eight months more, complete his 
course in the seminary, obtain license to preach, and enter the 
army as a chaplain. A commission had already been sent to 
him from the Board of Publication, at Philadelphia, inviting and 
empowering him to labor in their service for such time and in 
such a field as he might prefer. But the war had already begun, 
and this commission, of course, could not be accepted. There 
was a good supply of books, however, in the depository at Lex- 
ington, and he was urged to use these in the service of the com- 
mittee of Lexington Presbytery. But, having listened to his 
father, as he always did, with the most deferential attention, he 
replied substantially as follows : 

" ' Father, what you say has much force. But this is to be no 
ordinary war, and for young men like me to hold back wilj have 
a very bad moral effect. The superior numbers and resources 
of the North will make it necessary for every man in the South, 
not disabled by age or infirmity, to take part in the work of re- 
sistance. I have thought and prayed much over this question 
for the last two months. To be entirely candid, I observed a 
day of fasting and prayer at the seminary, with a view to learn 
what the will of the Lord is, and the result is as firm a convic- 
tion that I ought at once to take part in the defence of my native 
State, and especially of you and mother, as I ever felt that I 
ought to preach the Gospel.' His appearance, manner and 
thoughts impressed the memory and heart of his father in a way 
never to be forgotten, and under the impression thus made, he 
said : ' Go, my son, and the blessing of God go with you.' And 
although he fell, the blessing of God did go with him. 

" The students of Washington College had formed themselves 
into a volunteer company, with the title of the Liberty Hall 
Volunteers, and chosen their professor of Greek, James J. White, 
their captain. Hugh at once enrolled himself as a private in 
the ranks of this company, under the command of his eldest 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 131 

brother, whom he had always loved and reverenced, almost as 
he did his father. This company was composed almost exclu- 
sively of those then connected with the college, or who were 
recent graduates of the college. It consisted of seventy-two in 
the aggregate, more than half of whom were professors of 
religion, and about one-fourth of whom were candidates for the 
ministry. It embraced an amount of intellectual and moral worth 
rarely equalled in any military company. On the morning of 
the 8th of June, 1861, they were formed in front of the Court 
House in Lexington. The Court House square, the main street, 
the windows of the houses, were crowded with the citizens of the 
town and of the surrounding country. They were well drilled, 
handsomely equipped, and made a very imposing appearance. 
A beautiful Confederate flag, wrought by the hands of the ladies 
of Falling Spring congregation, was presented in very appropri- 
ate terms by the Rev. John Miller, and received in a few perti- 
nent words by Captain White. A brief address was then made 
to them, and prayer offered for them and their invaded State, by 
the father of the captain ; after which the command was given, 
and with solemn step they marched away amidst the sighs and 
tears of the whole community. A large number in carriages, on 
horseback, and on foot, followed in their rear to the river, a mile 
below the town ; then returning entered the Presbyterian Church, 
where prayer and praise were offered to the God of grace, who 
is also the God of battles. 

" In the first battle of Manassas, such was the gallantry dis- 
played by this company, that they won from General Jackson 
the designation of * more than brave young men.' Twelve of 
them have fallen in battle. Seven have died of disease con- 
tracted in camp. Fourteen have been wounded in action. 
They have been in thirteen pitched battles, and many combats, 
in a period of eighteen months ; and on no occasion have they 
failed to evince a high order of courage. From the casualties 
of battle and disease they are now commanded by their fourth 
captain. 

"As they awaited orders at Staunton, Hugh wrote to his 
father : 

Some hearts, it may be, are now swelling with the desire 
for military distinction, and some heads becoming dizzy with 
anticipations of earthly glory. But I confess I am either too 
cowardly or too stupid to belong to either class. They may 
win the laurels, provided only that our cause triumphs.' 



132 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

" Under date of June 24, he wrote from Manasses : 
" ' Yesterday we heard two sermons and attended a prayer- 
meeting. This gave the appearance, at least, of hohness to the 
day, but still, if you had looked into our camp you would have 
thought it the busiest day of the week. Some were cooking, 
others cutting wood, and others pitching their tents. It is pain- 
ful but necessary to spend the Sabbath in this way. Our relig- 
ious privations are what we feel most keenly. We seek to 
remedy this by a brief prayer-meeting held every night after roll- 
call. Nearly all the members of our company attend with 
becoming seriousness. May the trials of our country work in it 
a great moral reformation. If so, we may hope for true and last- 
ing prosperity when peace shall again come. If not, God will 
overturn in the future as He is doing now. May He speedily 
redeem our world from sin and ruin.' 

"In his letters describing the battle of Manasses, July 21, 
1 86 1, he said: 



<( < 



It was an awful Sabbath. How often I longed to be with 
you, enjoying the privileges of the Sabbath. Even one hour 
would have been delightful. But God ordered otherwise. We 
are all in His hands. He casts down and He keeps alive. May 
He speedily crown our cause with complete success ! If it please 
Him, may I again see my father and mother in peace, and spend 
my life in preaching His Gospel. The scenes in which I am 
now engaged are very sad ; yet the taste of victory, though 
bought by precious blood, is sweet. But to preach would be 
far better.' 



" ' Brother James and I heartily unite with you in praising the 
Grace which has spared our lives in this bloody battle. He and 
I joined in the pursuit beyond the Stone Bridge. We saw the 
enemy as they passed through the woods a mile ahead of us, 
and we returned to attend to our wounded and dead. Night 
soon closed the scene. The next day we buried our dead. It 
rained the whole day, and that night -we sat up around our 
fires. Brother James had religious service over their graves. 

" * It is a great victory ; but may I never pass through such a 
scene again. Death and hell may rejoice on the battle-field, but 
let man be silent. May God, who has won this victory for us, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE'S ARMY. 133 

now give us peace. IMy best love to sister, Willie and the 
children. Your affectionate brother, 

' Hugh.' 

" Writing from Centreville to his mother, he says : ' How 
much I would give to be permitted to spend the Sabbath day in 
Lexington. We have no house of worship here, and are thus 
deprived of the delights of the sanctuary. One day of sacred 
rest, like hundreds which have passed away, uncared for and 
unimproved, would be at this time a feast of fat things to my 
soul. We are almost entirely cut off here from the reviving 
influences of social worship. A prayer-meeting ever}' night is 
in part a substitute. Mother, in your anxiety for my bodily 
comfort and welfare, I hope you will not forget my soul. The 
atmosphere surrounding that is as cold as that which surrounds 
my body. How much I wish that the power of Divine grace 
was more at work within me. But though cast down, I will not 
despair, but still trust in God.' 

" Of the death of a fellow-soldier, another of the ' more than 
brave * Liberty Hall Volunteers — a native and resident of Rock- 
bridge, he says : ' You have doubtless heard before this of the 
death of another of our company; T refer to \Y. J. Thompson. 
His body, I suppose, passed through Lexington this morning, 
to reach his widowed mother to-day. He was cut down almost 
in a day. No one here was aware of his danger until the night 
before he was taken to the Junction. The next news from him 
'told us of his death. He died of typhoid fever, rendered more 
incurable by some disease of the stomach. He was a professing 
Christian, honoring the name by a character which was above 
reproach, and by a conduct which evinced the sincerity of his 
profession. He was delirious much of the time after he became 
ill, but was permitted to enjoy an hour or two of consciousness 
a short time before he died. These hours he spent in making 
some necessary arrangements of a secular nature, and in reading 
his Bible, accompanied by audible prayer. We have therefore 
good grounds to hope that he has entered his home in heaven, 
though his remains may now cast sorrow over his home on 
earth. He is the tenth of our compar^y who has fallen. Surely 
the hand of the Lord is heavy upon us. But how little apparent 
good results. I greatly fear that, as His chastisements have not 
softened our hearts and thus been made a savor of life unto life, 



134 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

they will prove a savor of death unto death, in hardening them, 
and thus rendering us vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. 
How shall we remedy this ? How shall we avert God's anger, 
which seems daily to gather strength ? Oh that all hearts would 
turn unto the Lord, and by penitence and faith seek the only 
refuge from His wrath. " Turn Thou us, O Lord, and we shall 
be turned." This must be our prayer, for God alone can help 
us. Father, you urge me to seek to be useful. Would it be 
proper for me to conduct religious services whenever an oppor- 
tunity offers ? And should I connect the other parts of the 
service with a short address ? If you approve of this, I will 
seek such opportunities.' 

•' In March, 1862, he writes : 

** ' Let me hear how the seminary prospers. I cannot be 
there, but still I am anxious to hear how many are there. The 
war has put a great barrier across my path, but one which can- 
not be avoided. It must be crossed. If I get through safely, I 
shall enter upon the work of the ministry with unspeakable de- 
light. I long to spend my life in the work of saving souls ; and 
to be kept back now, when just on the verge of commencing my 
work, is like being kept from home when it is just in sight. But 
I may do more good here than in the ministry. I bear my delay 
therefore with patience. 

" ' Your letter was a treat to me. The expressions of affection, 
and the accompanying prayers for me, are grateful to the heart. 
You expect us to move forward very soon, either to another 
great battle on our own soil, or to invade that of our enemies. 
Of course, I cannot tell what a day may bring forth, but I see no 
reason to expect a great battle so soon. I am ready, I hope, for 
anything. I do not feel like turning my face homeward, how- 
ever, until all at home are relieved from fear of the enemy. I 
wish to return to enjoy with you the pleasures of home in peace, 
and not to share the anxieties which now distress you. Let us 
only bear up with Christian firmness, and fight with courage, 
trusting in God, and we may hope for a speedy close to the war. 

" * Thank T for the prayer with which he closes his letter 

to me. Oh ! if he were a Christian, how much more willing I 
should be to die ! 

" ' Mrs. General Jackson arrived yesterday. She came to head- 
quarters just as Bishop Johns was about to begin evening wor- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 135 

ship. Her arrival occasioned some excitement. She looks very 
well. I had the pleasure of speaking to her after the service had 
ended. Her face, as always, seemed like sunshine. 

" * Bishop Johns preached for us two very good sermons. 
They were simple, earnest, faithful proposals of Christ to his 
hearers. I enjoyed them both very much, and hope they did 
good to all. 

" * Much love to one and all, but especially to you, my devoted 
mother. From -your son, 

'* ' Hugh.' 

" On his election to the captaincy of his company he wrote 
to his father as follows : 

" * The result surprised me greatly. I had hoped for nothing 
higher than the lieutenancy, and was not confident of that. But 
the question was decided in my favor, and with much fear I ac- 
cept the position. I do not expect any increase of happiness, 
but an increase of responsibility, leading to much perplexity and 
toil. The care, the kindness, the ceaseless effort called for, will 
greatly increase my need of help from the grace of God. To 
this source I look, praying that by example and by effort the 
men may become good soldiers and good Christians. I ask 
that all at home will pray that I may be fitted for the position I 
now hold.' 

" On the same subject he writes to his brother Henry : 
" ' Promotion in itself brings neither peace nor happiness, and 
unless it increases one's usefulness it is a curse. An opportunity 
is now afforded for exerting a wider influence for good, and if 
enabled to improve this aright I shall then be happier than be- 
fore. My life is now given to the army, and will be spent in it, 
even to the end of the war. But if my life is spared to see the 
end, and we are successful in our struggle, it will be the delight 
of my heart to spend the remainder of it in the work of the min- 
istry. I am not fond of the army. Indeed many things in it are 
hateful to me ; but nothing is so much so as the invader of my 
native soil.' 

" To a sister he writes : • 

" ' Our life at present is so much better than it has been for 

several months that we are having a delightful time. It is true 

the sky is our roof and the earth our bed, but then it don't rain, 

and we are not marching ; and when a box comes in from home, 



136 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

we live and feel like princes. I am sorry that father could not 
visit us, but hope he will still do so. He will feel quite at home 
at General Jackson's head-quarters with the general and Dr. 
Dabney. The latter is very busy, but preaches whenever he has 
an opportunity. I heard him last Saturday, then twice on the 
Sabbath, when about two hundred soldiers received the sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper at his hands. This was a spiritual 
feast indeed. The religious element in our company is very 
strong ; sufficient, I hope, to control all other elements and give 
tone to the whole body. We hold a brief meeting every night, 
just after roll-call. The man whose turn it is stands up, while 
the rest stand around him. He reads a chapter, sometimes sings 
a hymn, then leads in prayer. There is some profanity, but this 
is lessening. Why should not the army be a school for the 
reformation of the wicked ? Such it has proved to J. W. and J. 
R. They are now perfectly sober men and good soldiers. I am 
much gratified at the accounts I receive of your prayer-meetings 
held in our behalf The prayers of those at home greatly 
strengthen and encourage us in the army. I will endeavor to 
remember you all at your hours of prayer. Yet we are so drawn 
about from one place and employment to another that I have 
scarcely a moment for connected, sober thought.' 

" To a brother in the pastorate he writes : 

"'Rest satisfied therefore that duty bids you stay at home; 
mine is to remain in the army, and I am willing to do it for the 
glorious cause in which our young Confederacy is engaged. If we 
give up, everything is lost. If we struggle on, endure hardships, 
exert our utmost strength, and put our trust in God, who has so 
far been very gracious to us, we may hope after awhile to taste 
the most blessed fruits from these present distresses. 

" * My chief source of sorrow is, that I can do so little, or 
rather that Ido so little for the cause of my Saviour. Father 
seems to think the army a glorious field for usefulness. To him, 
doubtless, it would be. But what have I done ? I hope my in- 
fluence for good has been felt in our own company — but to how 
little extent! I can only look to God to give me the heart to 
work, and then open up paths of usefulness for me. If I really 
wish to do good in the world, it must become a subject of con- 
stant study, followed by ceaseless effort. I am very glad to hear 
that you are so comfortably situated. You have nothing now to 
hinder you from doing much good. May God grant you this 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. ^ 137 

great privilege. It Is a pleasing subject of thought to me, espe- 
cially on the Sabbath, that father, two brothers and a cousin are 
all preaching the gospel. I do not forget to pray for you. May 
I soon be permitted to join the number, and give my energies to 
the same good work.' 

" He was ever considerate, in a remarkable degree, of his 
mother's comfort. One of his chief sources of anxiety at the 
approach of a battle was that she might be prepared for her sad 
share in its results. He would write to her beforehand to pre- 
pare her for it. On the eve of one of the most desperate of the 
eight battles in which he bore an active part, he wrote her a 
letter full of the tenderest filial love, and expressive of the 
strongest faith. He concludes this letter in these words : ' Mother, 
don't be anxious about me. I have a sweet assurance that my 
soul is safe ; and as to my body, that is only dust.' 

" And then, when the battle was over his first effort was to 
find time to communicate the intelligence of his safety to all at 
home ; and a form of expression he used on such occasions was 
this, * May the anxious heart of my devoted mother now be com- 
forted.' Truly his was the heart, and the tongue, and the life, 
of a devoted son. 

" The mother of a young man belonging to the army called 
at the Lexington parsonage to inform her pastor that her son 
seemed much interested about his soul, and, indeed, she hoped 
he was a Christian and would embrace the first opportunity to 
connect himself with the Church; and then, weeping as she 
spoke, added : ' Your son Hugh has been very kind and faithful 
to him. As he did not belong to his company, and as he could 
not easily see him, he wrote to him ; and soon after he went over to 
his camp, and asked him to walk with him. They went together 
into a grove, a considerable distance from the camp ; and, after 
conversing fully with him, he proposed that they should unite in 
prayer ; then, kneeling at the root of a tree, he prayed for the 
soul of my son, and now I hope he is a Christian.' " 

This is but a specimen of his active work for Christ. 

In the last letter he ever penned, dated *' Banks of the Rappa- 
hanock, August 24, 1862," and addressed to his father, he said: 

" This has been very litde like the Sabbath. With spirits 
saddened by hunger and fretted by the constant roar of artillery, 
we have been kept in an uncomfortable frame of mind. The 



138 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

busy preparations for to-morrow prevent any enjoyment of the 
Sabbath. However, Dr. Stiles is to preach to the brigade this 
afternoon, and I hope to hear him. It requires a great struggle 
to keep the busy scenes around me from driving all devotion 
from my heart. They ought to have a contrary effect. I ought 
now more than ever to seek my strength, my happiness, my all, 
in God. How could I live without Him ? With Him no storm 
can disturb my peace, no danger can come nigh, no harm can 
befall which will not do me good. 

" I send you three hundred dollars. Of this I wish you to 

appropriate one hundred dollars for T 's outfit for the cavalry, 

one hundred to be held subject to my order, and one hundred 
as a donation to the Confederate States Bible Society and our 
committee for the publication of religious tracts and books. 

" Give my warmest love to all at home. You are constantly 
in my mind and firmly engraved upon my heart. Write when 
you can to your devoted son. " Hugh." 

Leaving, for the moment, the narrative of the afflicted father, 
I will describe the death of Captain White and Colonel Baylor 
as I received and wrote it at the time from the lips of eye-wit- 
nesses. 

On the night before the last day's battle at Second Manassas, 
Friday, August 29, 1 862, Colonel W. S. H. Baylor (I ought 
really to call him general, for '* Stonewall" Jackson and R. E. Lee 
had both recommended his promotion, and his commission had 
actually been made out when news of his lamented death reached 
Richmond), one of the most widely known and loved young men 
in the State, was in command of the famous old " Stonewall 
Brigade," which had the year before won its name and immortal 
fame on these historic plains. Sending for his friend, Captain 
Hugh White — son of the venerable Dr. Wm. S. White, of Lexing- 
ton, " Stonewall" Jackson's old pastor, and himself a theological 
student — who commanded one of the companies in the brigade, 
" Will " Baylor (as we used familiarly to call him) said to him : 
" I know the men are very much wearied out by the battle 
to-day, and that they need all of the rest they can get to fit them 
for the impending struggle of to-morrow. But I cannot consent 
that we shall sleep to-night until we have had a brief season of 
prayer to thank God for the victory and preservation of the day, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 139 

and to beseech His protection and blessing during the continu- 
ance of this terrible conflict." Hugh White entered at once into 
the proposal. Rev. A. C. Hopkins (then chaplain of the Se-cond 
Virginia Infantry, now pastor of the Presbyterian Church at 
Charlestown, West Virginia, and one of those faithful chaplains- 
who was always found at the post of duty, even when it was the 
post of hardship or of danger) was found in the bivouac near by 
and gladly consented to lead the meeting. The men were quietly 
notified that there would be a prayer-meeting at brigade head- 
quarters as soon as they could assemble, and nearly the whole 
of this brigade and many from other brigades promptly gathered 
at the appointed spot. It was a tender, precious season of 
worship, there in line of battle and in full hearing of the enemy. 
Colonel Baylor entered into it with the burning zeal of the young 
convert — he had found Christ in the camp only a short time 
before — and Captain Hugh White, with the ripened experience 
of the Christian of long-standing, and many of the participants, 
realized, with Jacob of old, that the place was " none other than 
the house of God and the gate of heaven." In the great battle 
which followed the next day, when the Confederate line was 
pressing grandly forward and driving everything before it, Will 
Baylor, with the flag of the Thirty-third Virginia in his hands 
and the shout of victory on his lips, fell in the very forefront of 
the battle and gave his brave, noble, young life to the land and 
cause he loved so well and served so faithfully. 

As the flag fell from the nerveless grasp of Baylor, Captain 
Hugh White sprang forward, caught the falling colors, waved 
them in the view of the veterans of the old " Stonewall Brigade," 
and rushing to the front called on them to follow him to victory. 
The smoke of battle soon concealed the young hero from his 
comrades, but when the line swept grandly forward to drive the 
enemy before them and add " Second Manassas " to the long 
series of Confederate victories, it was found that Hugh White, 
too, had been killed, and those two young men who mingled 
so lovingly in the prayer-meeting of the night before had entered 
through the pearly gates, were walking the golden streets, and 
were wearing fadeless crowns of victory. 

Mrs. Margaret J. Preston (whose graceful verse has adorned so 
many bright pages of Southern literature, and who has sung so 
tenderly from the depths of a full heart concerning the heroes 
of the Confederacy) thus wrote to Captain White's afflicted 
mother : 



140 

" May the tender Jesus, who said ' Weep not * to His own 
mother in the extremity of her sufferings, say the same to you, 
dear friend. What need have we to look away from the sur- 
roundings of our dear ones' deaths, to forget the battle and the 
blood, and all the awful circumstances through which they passed 
into the pure presence of God. Think of it — the exchange of 
the boom of cannon for * the harpers, harping with their harps ' 
— the shrieks of furious enemies for the hallelujahs of angels — 
the fierce onset for the ' Come, ye blessed of my Father' — the 
madness of war for the boundless peace of heaven ! These were 
the exchanges your precious boy made when he breathed out 
his life into the hands of his Saviour. For himself he felt noth- 
ing but a holy joy, as our Willie* did, and if he turned his 
thoughts to the anguish of his father and mother at his loss, it 
must have been with the triumphant assurance that the trust in 
Jesus which they had taught him, and which zvas strong enough 
for him to die by, was also strong enough for them to live by. 

" You are an honored mother to have reared such a son for 
immortality. He did not need long years to fit him for a life 
with God, and if he has gotten home the soonest, without the 
toilsome march, you will not think that cause of sorrow, dear 
friend. If he could lean from the heavenly heights to-day, 
would he not say something like this : * Precious mother, there 
is no need of tears for me. I had all the happiness earth caa 
give. I had a sweet, beautiful life with you all, and without the 
trial of any grief am translated now to the full possession of 
the bliss of God's redeemed. Rejoice in my joy.' 

« -j^- Wm. C. Preston, son of Colonel J. T. L. Preston, of Lexington, Virginia, who 
fell in the same battle. 

" The following extract is taken from a sketch of his life and death, published in 
the Central Presbyterian : 

" ' " Don't distress yourselves about me, boys ; I am not afraid to die," he said to 
his comrades, as they pressed anxiously around him. There spoke the considerate 
friend — ^the chivalrous young soldier — the fearless Christian. Of the few remain- 
ing hours of his life liule is known. Thus much we are permitted to know. His 
beloved captain, Hugh A. White, was with him on the morning preceding his 
death. Turning to the surgeon, Willie asked if it was possible for him to survive; 
he received a negative answer. " Could you get a letter to my fnther? " he asked 
of Captain White. Upon being reminded of the difficulty, he acquiesced and said : 
" Then I will deliver my messages to you." These undelivered messages are for- 
ever sealed up in the bosom of the noble young leader, who fell, instantly killed, a 
few hours later.' 

" Thus let the names of these martyrs in the cause of their country go down to 
posterity together." 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 141 

" His dear father and you have my tears and prayers. What 
have I else to give ? 

"Yours in Hke faith and sufferings, 

" M. J. P." 

" From a large number of letters written to his family and 
friends, it is deemed advisable to insert extracts from only three. 
All these relate chiefly to the time and manner of his death. 
As to the slight discrepancy which appears in two of these ac- 
counts of the posture in which he was found, it is sufficient to 
remark, that one saw him before and the other after he had been 
turned from the posture in which he fell. 

" The first of these extracts is from a letter of General Thomas 
J. Jackson to Rev. Dr. Dabney. The general says : 

" * In the second battle of Manassas I lost more than one per- 
sonal friend. Among the number was Captain Hugh A. 
White. We were members of the same church, and had been 
co-laborers in the same Sabbath-school. His Christian labors 
were not confined to times of peace. In the army he adorned 
the doctrine of Christ his Saviour. When Testaments or other 
religious works were to be distributed, I found him ready for 
the work. Though his loss must be mourned, yet it is gratify- 
ing to know that he has left us a bright example, and that he 
fell, sword in hand, gallantly cheering on his men, and leading 
them to victory in repelling the last attack of the enemy upon 
that bloody field. 

" ' Very truly, your friend, 

" * T. J. Jackson.' 

" The following extract is from a letter to his brother from one 
who served wath him as first lieutenant, and who succeeded him 
as captain, and who was wounded on the previous day : 

" 'Dear Sir : I have endeavored to procure all the particulars 
»of your brother's fall, but have only partially succeeded. Many 
saw him just previous to his death, and several very soon after- 
ward, but I can find no one who saw him in the interval be- 
tween the time when he was struck and when he expired, if 
there was any. The reason seems to be this : Immediately be- 
fore he was shot the brigade had been ordered to charge, but 



142 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

had not proceeded far before it was thrown Into considerable 
confusion, partly by obstructions in the line of march, but prin- 
cipally by the fierce resistance of the enemy; and it was just at 
this juncture, when companies were separated from their regi- 
ments, and officers from their companies, that your brother, 
eager to meet the foe, and undismayed by the circumstances 
which had produced a temporary confusion in his regiment, hav- 
ing advanced far to the front, with his sword in one hand and 
his hat in the other, calling on his men to follow him, fell un- 
observed near the spot already hallowed by the blood of the 
gallant Colonel Baylor. Before his fall, and probably at the 
moment the fatal missile entered his noble bosom, he was bear- 
ing the standard with which Colonel Baylor fell while leading 
the brigade to the charge. 

" ' But although, on account of the confusion, his death was 
unobserved, his presence was soon missed and a member of 
his company, fearing he had been injured, proceeded to look for 
him, and soon found his body. He was lying on his face, rest- 
ing it in his hands, and his pistol and his unsheathed sword lay 
by his side. 

" * He was afterwards " buried on the field " by a few of his lit- 
tle band, assisted by some friends from other companies. 

" * Thus fell our beloved captain, mourned not only by the 
company that had followed him so long, but by every soldier 
who knew him. We loved him not only as a soldier, but also 
and especially as a Christian gentleman. As a soldier and 
officer he was a model; to his company he was exceedingly 
kind, but his kindness never assumed the form of partiality. 
He was just. In the camp he devoted himself exclusively to 
the promotion of its interests, temporal and eternal. In action 
he was perfectly fearless, yet his courage was controlled by a 
sound discretion. On such occasions he was possessed with a 
peculiar enthusiasm — an unconquerable zeal and determination 
to meet the foe — and consequently he was always seen among 
those gallant spirits who go farthest in the direction of the foe. 
His command never was ''go 07i,'' but always " come on." 

'* *As a Christian gentleman he was also a model. Such ear- 
nestness of disposition — such nobility of soul — such sublimity 
of purpose — such humility — such devotion to Christ's cause ; not 
inducing noisy demonstrations, but those quiet, irresistible 
movements, which are like the silent flow of deep streams. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 143 

How rare are such characters ! I have never known one as 
young as he so faultless. His piety was active — a real living 
principle, whose movements and influences were seen and felt, 
not only by his fellow-Christians, but also by all who came in 
contact with him. His efforts to secure the salvation of his 
company were unceasing, and to compass this end he was much 
in prayer, and abounded in good works. As often as circum- 
stances permitted, he distributed religious reading — tracts, news- 
papers, memoirs, etc. — among his company and sometimes in 
the regiment. It was also his custom, as occasion offered, to 
assemble his company nightly before the door of his tent for re- 
ligious services. 

" *We deeply mourn his loss, and feel that his place can never 
be filled. But, 

" Though lost to sight, to memory ever dear." 

" * It gives me unspeakable pleasure thus to bear testimony to 
the inestimable worth of your noble brother. 

" ' Your friend, 

'" * G. B. S.' 

" The last extract is from a letter to Rev. Dr. Brown, of Rich- 
mond, from one who, at the time, belonged to the Rockbridge 
Artillery, but who was soon after promoted to a place on Gen- 
eral Jackson's staff. Dr. Brown published this extract in the 
Central Presbyterian. The writer says : 

" ' The " Stonewall Brigade " received the attack well ; was 
flanked by a strong body of the enemy, fell back a few rods, 
changed front and, again advancing, drove the enemy with great 
slaughter from the field and the cover which they sought. The 
result to our dear old brigade was fearful. Colonel Baylor, 
commanding, was mortally wounded, and O! how sad I am to 
tell you, that our dear friend. Captain Hugh A. White, of Lex- 
ington, the noblest of soldiers, fell pierced through his body, 
when in advance of the brigade, with hat and sword in hand, 
calling to his men, " come on, come on." I have seen no one 
myself who saw him fall. Just after this success of our brigade 
we advanced with our battery to cover their advancing columns. 
The ground was strewn around with the gallant, dearly loved 

*' * Now Rev. Dr. Geo. B. Strickler, of Atlanta, Georgia.'* 



144 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

veterans of our old " Stonewall Brigade." Beyond was the long 
line of blue-coated hirelings, who paid for their crime with their 
life's blood. 

" * I stood leaning against my gun, waiting for orders and 
watching the tide of battle as it steadily receded from me. Soon 
one of the Liberty Hall Volunteers came up, and, with tears 
rolling down his cheeks, told us his brave captain was lying 
there in front of us. 

" * I ran forward, and there, too true, was my best, my noblest 
friend, with his sweet, lovely face upturned, his eyes gazing upon 
that world where his spirit had gone, and his body in its last, 
long sleep. 

'' ' His sword had been already taken away. I found and 
took off his Bible and several letters. It was indeed heart- 
rending as we gathered around. Dear, dcaj- Hugh, the purest, 
the truest, the best of us all. May we of his companions who 
are spared live to love and serve our God more and better, and 
die to meet him in our home above. What a blessed ministry 
did we anticipate in his! How full of the promise of useful- 
ness were his amiable, attractive qualities, his accurate and in- 
creasing attainments, and his quiet, yet earnest, active piety. 
But I must say no more, though of this subject my heart and 
head are full. Our victory is great. Again let us turn to God 
— may His goodness lead us to new repentance and obedience. 

"'*J. P. S.' 

" God was good in giving this son, good in making him 
what he was, and no less good in taking him away, just when 
and as He did. The belief is sincerely entertained that neither 
vanity nor ostentation prompts to this effort to perpetuate his 
memory. But as it was the ruling desire of his heart to make 
this bad world better, and as the bitterest grief of his parents on 
account of his early death flows from the consideration that he 
did not accomplish this by living, this effort is made so to per- 
petuate his existence on earth that, being dead, he may yet 
speak. Well may the old ask, why are we feeble, withered, 
fruitless branches spared, and they, so young, so fresh, so fruit- 
ful, taken away? God's ways are not our ways, neither are His 
thoughts ours. He may enable a youth like this, who dies at 

"*Now Rev. James P. Smith, of Fredericksburg, Virginia." 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 145 

twenty-two, to accomplish far more for man's good and His own 
glory than they who live to threescore and ten years. 

" The young are not likely to find a more striking illustra- 
tion of the truth, that ' the ways of wisdom are ways of pleas- 
antness, and all her paths are peace,' than his life furnishes. 
He was habitually cheerful and happy. Seeking to enjoy every- 
thing in God, he enjoyed God in ever>^thing, and thus even the 
vicissitudes of life ministered to his comfort. His life was beau- 
tiful, and his death safe, honorable and useful." 

It is no exaggeration to say that volumes could be filled with 
sketches of other officers and men, worthy to take their places 
beside those given above ; but these must suffice. 

Rev. Dr. J. A. Broadus, while preaching in the army, thus 
wrote, in the Religious Herald, on the " Influence of Officers : " 

" I recently became acquainted, in the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia, with Brigadier-General , from one of the Gulf States, 

who is a Baptist, and a very interesting man. He is said to be 
an admirable officer, having taken charge of a brigade which 
had been in very bad condition, and made it one of the finest in 
the army, and having gained, by his skilful and gallant leader- 
ship in the field, the entire confidence and warm affection of his 
command. He struck me at once by his pleasing address, and 
his cordial greeting to a Christian brother. He would listen, 
with a glowing countenance and not without tears, to the more 
affecting truths of the Gospel, and in all our intercourse seemed 
to me an unusually zealous, devout and humble Christian. I 
hear that he is always ready to pray and exhort in the prayer- 
meetings. His conversation showed an absorbing anxiety for 
the spiritual welfare of his men. And in mentioning incident- 
ally an occasion on which he had tried to gather them into a 
special meeting for prayer, and the good results, he spoke with 
humble gratitude of the joy with which he found it possible to 
exert a marked religious influence over his officers and men. 
May God bless him in all nis efforts to do good. 

'* Every civilian who goes into the army will be struck with 
the wonderful influence possessed by the officers. Everything 
is arranged so as to give them authority and secure them 
respect — a thing necessary to the efficiency and the very exist- 
ence of an army. And you very soon feel the effect upon 
10 



146 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

yourself. You did not care any more for officers than privates — 
not you. But stay in camp awhile, and you catch the feeling. 
You will go with a friend who is introducing you — will perhaps 
see a rather indifferent-looking youngster, eating his dinner, and 
care very little for him ; but when he looks up and you see three 

stars on his collar, and your friend says, * Colonel ,' you 

take off your hat. 

"And let any officer, from the highest to the lowest, be a 
decidedly religious or a decidedly irreligious man, and the influ- 
ence diffuses itself throughout his entire command. These men 
sought distinction, and delight in authority. Alas ! many of 
them little think of the weighty responsibilities which always 
pertain to any position of influence. They cannot divest them- 
selves of this responsibility, not merely to the nation for the 
military efficiency of their command, but to God for the religious 
influence exerted upon these their fellow-men. Of course, no 
one wants them to do anything officially to constrain the men 
into anything like religion. But their example, and their 
ways of talking, produce an effect that is positively astonishing. 

" Have you a friend who is an officer ? Urge him not to 
neglect the solemn responsibility of his position. If he is a 
Christian, let him try to be such a specimen of the Christian 
officer as the general above described, and he may do incalcula- 
ble good. If still unconverted, ask if he has a right not only to 
slight his own soul, but by his example and influence to be 
ruining the souls of others. 

"Are you an officer yourself? Has Providence placed you as 
a leader to your fellow-men, and shall you lead them to perdi- 
tion ? Parents ought to become Christians for the sake of their 
children, besides personal considerations ; and so ought officers 
to become Christians for the sake of their men. 

"J. A. B. 

" Orange Court House." 

A correspondent of another paper writes : 

" The brigade, the regiment, or the company, which has 
enjoyed the influence of a real Christian commander, stands out 
in bold and bright relief I have seen enough of this to make 
every Christian proud, yes, boastfully, most joyfully proud, of his 
blessed, his wonder-working religion. I have seen companies, 
composed of the same material, encamped very near each other, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 147 

yet steadily travelling different roads, and constantly developing 
the most contrary characteristics. In one you would see gam- 
bling, drinking, disorder and discontent ; in the other everything 
would go on very much as in any well-regulated Christian 
household, In other words, I was never so well satisfied as I 
am now, that the religion of Christ is essential to the existence — 
not to say the efficiency — of a volunteer army. It may be that in 
the regular army, where the common soldier is hardly better 
than a brute — a mere machine — men may be trained to the arts 
of war, and may become most efficient soldiers without the 
restraints of religion ; but, in an army like ours, I believe that 
religion is absolutely indispensable in order to make it fit to 
accomplish the mighty results dependent on its efforts." 

The following incident well illustrates the influence of Chris- 
tian officers: 

" When General Havelock, as colonel of his regiment, was 
travelling through India, he always took with him a Bethel tent, 
in which he preached the Gospel ; and when Sunday came in 
India he hoisted the Bethel flag, and invited all men to come 
and hear the Gospel ; in fact, he even baptized some. He was 
reported for this at head-quarters, for acting in a non-militar}^ 
and disorderly manner; and the commander-in-chief, General 
Lord Gough, entertained the charge, but, with the true spirit of 
a generous military man, he caused the state of Colonel Have- 
lock's regiment to be examined. He caused the reports of the 
moral 'state of the various regiments to be read for some time 
back, and he found that Colonel Havelock's stood at the head 
of the list ; there was less drunkenness, less flogging, less im- 
prisonment in it, than in any other. When that was done, the 
commander-in-chief said : * Go and tell Colonel Havelock, with 
my compliments, to baptize the whole army.' " 

Thank God that we had in the Confederate armies so many 
Christian officers — men worthy to take their places beside Have- 
lock, Colonel Gardiner, Captain Headley Vickars, General 
George H. Gordon, and all of the Christian soldiers of history, 
and to exhibit the power of the Gospel in making men truer 
patriots, braver soldiers, and more influential leaders of their 
fellows. 



CHAPTER V. 

BIBLE AND COLPORTAGE WORK. 

THE world's history has never presented a wider field of 
usefulness to the humble colporter who tries to do his 
duty than the camps and hospitals of the Confederate armies, 
and rarely have Christian workers more fully improved their 
golden opportunities. 

When the war broke out, nearly all of the great publishing 
houses were located at the North, our people generally did their 
Bible and tract work in connection with societies whose head- 
quarters were in Northern cities, and our facilities for publishing 
were very scant. The great societies at the North generally 
declared Bibles and Testaments " contraband of war," and we 
had at once to face the problem of securing supplies through the 
blockade, or manufacturing them with our poor facilities. 

The first Confederate Bible printed, so far as I can ascertain, 
was from the presses of the South-western Publishing House, at 
Nashville, 1861. A copy of this edition was sent to President 
Davis, who replied : " The Bible is a beautiful specimen of 
Southern workmanship, and if I live to be inaugurated the first 
President of the Confederacy, on the 22d of February, my lips 
shall press the sacred volume which your kindness has bestowed 
upon me." 

The British and Foreign Bible Society gave to the Confederate 
Bible Society unlimited credit in the purchase of supplies, and 
made liberal donations of Bibles and Testaments for our soldiers, 
as the following statement of Dr. Bennett will show : 

" Finding that for the main supply they must rely on impor- 
tations from abroad, the Confederate Bible Society directed its 
corresponding secretary. Rev. Dr. E. H. Myers, to communicate 
with the British and Foreign Bible Society, with the view of 
securing such occasional supplies as might be lucky enough to 
escape the dangers of the blockade and reach our ports. 

" Dr. Myers, after detailing the operations of the society, said: 
(148) 



RELIGION IN lee's ARMY. 149 

'The proposition is simply that we be allowed a credit with your 
society for the Scriptures we need — say to the value of ;^i,ooo — 
until such time as sterling exchange is reduced to about its usual 
cost — we paying interest on our purchase until the debt is 
liquidated.' 

" To this letter the following noble response was sent, grant- 
ing the society three times the amount they asked, free of 
interest : 

"'London, id Earl Street, Blackfriars, October lo, 1862. 
" ' The Rev. Dr. Myers : 

" 'Dear Sir: I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of your 
letter of the 19th of August, which did not, however, reach us 
until the 3d of this month. The request which it contains was 
immediately submitted to our committee for their consideration 
and decision, and I have much pleasure in informing you that it 
was unanimously agreed that your request should be complied 
with, and» that the Scriptures should be sent as directed, to 
Messrs. Eraser, Trenholm & Co. The only portion of your 
letter to which the committee demurred was that in which you 
proposed that interest should be paid upon the debt until it was 
liquidated. We could not, for a moment, entertain such a prop- 
osition. We are only too thankful that God has in his Provi- 
dence put in our hands the means of supplying your wants. Into 
the political question which now agitates the States of America 
it is not our province to enter. We hear of multitudes wounded 
and bleeding, and we cannot pass by on the other side, when it 
is in our power to do something towards stanching the wounds 
and to pour into them some few drops of the Balm of Gilead. 
May He who sitteth above the water-floods speedily command 
peace, and as Jesus in the days of His flesh trod the boisterous 
waves of the Sea of Galilee into stillness, so may He walk upon 
the rough waters of political strife and fierce contention, which 
now desolate your country, with such majesty and mercy that 
immediately there may be a great calm. 

" ' You will, then, understand, my dear sir, that a credit has 
been granted by our society to the Bible Society of the Con- 
federate States to the amount of ;^3,ooo, free of interest, and that 
the books will be forwarded as directed to Messrs. Eraser, Tren- 
holm & Co. The first order, which has already reached us, will 
be executed with as little delay as possible. It will be^ gratify- 



150 

ing to our committee to receive any account of the work of God 
within the district which your society embraces with which you 
may be pleased to favor us. 

" * I am, my dear sir, yours very sincerely, 

" * Charles Jackson, Secretary/ 

" This venerable institution gave another illustration of the prin- 
ciples on which it is founded by granting to Rev. Dr. M. D. Hoge, 
of Virginia, who went abroad during the war to procure religious 
reading-matter for our soldiers, 10,000 Bibles, 50,000 New Testa- 
ments, and 250,000 portions of the Scriptures, 'mainly for distri- 
bution among the soldiers of the Confederate army.' 

" With the portion of these grants that passed in to us through 
the blockade, the New Testaments printed within our limits, and, 
we are happy to say, several donations from the American Bible 
Society — one of 20,000 Testaments to the Baptist Sunday-school 
Board, and others through the Bible Society of the city of Mem- 
phis — our camps were kept partially supplied with the Divine 
word. We say partially, for often the distribution would be 
limited to a single copy of the Bible or Testament for a mess of 
five or six men." 

The visit of Rev. Dr. Moses D. Hoge, of Richmond, to Eng- 
land was not only very useful in securing the large donations of 
Bibles and Testaments noted above, but his eloquent statement 
of the religious work in the Confederate armies, in which he was 
so able and efficient a helper, elicited the sympathies and prayers 
of many Christians in Great Britain. 

He brought over also many very valuable books and tracts, 
some of which were republished for use in our armies. 

One of my most cherished mementos of the war is a portable 
Bible, commentary and concordance, which were brought over 
by Dr. Hoge, and copies of which were presented to many of 
the chaplains by that accomplished Christian woman and noble 
worker, Mrs. E. H. Brown (of the Central Presbyteiia?t), who 
was appropriately called '* The chaplains' friend," and whose 
untiring labors in the hospitals won her the warm love of the 
soldiers, and doubtless many "stars" in the "crown of rejoicing" 
she now wears. 

Unfortunately, however, only a part of the Bibles and other 
supplies secured by Dr. Hoge succeeded in " running the block- 
ade," and many copies of God's word intended for our suffering 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 151 

soldiers were captured and scattered through the North as 
" souvenirs." 

I must not forget to say that the "American Bible Society " 
made liberal donations of their publications, and did it with a 
Christian courtesy and charity which arose above the passions 
of the hour, and which our Southern people should gratefully 
remember, even if they had not continued, after the war, to make 
grants, amounting to considerably over ;^ 100,000, to circulate 
God's word among the needy of our Southern land. 

I find this item in a file of the Rciigiojis Herald for 1864: 

" On an application by Rev. Levi Thorne, of North Carolina, 
approved by Governor Vance, 100,000 Bibles and Testaments, 
principally for North Carolina troops in the Confederate service, 
were granted by the American Bible Society, New York, at its 
meeting in December. For the South-west 50,000 were granted 
at the same time." 

If other societies at the North made any such donations, I am 
not aware of it, and should be glad to be informed that I may 
give them due credit. 

But with all the copies we could import or print, there was a 
great scarcity of Bibles and Testaments, and we appealed through 
the papers for extra copies that might be in the homes of the 
people or in the Sunday-schools. Some of the responses to 
these appeals were very touching. 

One lady wrote : " This Bible was the property of my dear 

son H -, who died three years ago ; it was given him by his 

only sister, about the time he was taken sick. For this reason I 
have kept it back, but seeing the earnest request in the papers, 
and as I can no longer read its sacred pages, after dropping a 
tear at parting with it, I send it for the use of the soldiers. I 
had given away long since all I could find about the house, and 
now send you this, hoping that, with God's blessing, it may save 
some soul." 

In response to one of my appeals, I received from Miss 
Chapin, his aunt, the pocket-Bible which E. Garland Sydnor (son 
of our honored brother, Rev. Dr. T. W. Sydnor) carried in his 
pocket when he gave his noble young life to " the land he loved." 
It was stained with the blood of the patriot-soldier, and his aunt 
wrote that while she prized it above all price, she could not with- 
hold it from some poor soldier who needed it, and sent it 
bedewed with her tears and carrying with it her prayers. I 



V 



152 

wrote on a fly-leaf a statement of these circumstances, and 
requested its return to me if it should survive the war. I carried 
it for a noble fellow in Wright's Georgia Brigade, who had re- 
cently found Christ in the camp, and to whom I had promised 
a Bible, but found that he had been killed on the skirmish-line 
that morning, and had gone to study God's truth with clearer 
vision and in the clearer light of heaven. 

I gave it to another, and ten days after his messmate brought 
me back the Bible, saying that his comrade had fallen in the 
forefront of the battle, and had died in the hospital in the full 
assurance of the Christian faith, and with warm expressions con- 
cerning the comfort and joy which that Bible had given him. I 
then gave it to my old university friend and brother, Edwin 
Bowie, of Westmoreland county, who was badly wounded, but 
survived the war, and only last year the book, around which so 
many hallowed associations and precious memories cluster, was 
returned to Dr. Sydnor. 

Garland Sydnor was a cousin of Captain Hugh A. White, 
whose death has been described in the previous chapter, and 
there are some interesting coincidences in their lives, and the 
circumstances attending their death, which seem worthy of 
record : 

1. They were near the same age — Hugh born in September, 
1840, and Garland iii March, 1843. 

2. They were sons of ministers of the Gospel. 

3. Like Timothy, they knew the Scriptures from childhood, 
each having been taught by a pious mother and a pious grand- 
mother. 

4. Each made a public profession of religion when about 
fifteen years of age. 

5. Each decided shortly after his conversion to devote him- 
self to the ministry, and had entered upon a course of study pre- 
paratory to that great work — Hugh at Union Theological Sem- 
inary, and Garland at Columbian College. 

6. Their studies were interrupted by the war, and each re- 
turned to his home and volunteered as a soldier in the Confed- 
erate army. 

7. They proved themselves brave and patriotic soldiers, and 
through all their military career maintained an elevated and 
consistent Christian character. 

8. Both lost their lives in battle — Hugh in the second battle 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 153 

of Manassas, and Garland just two weeks after, in the battle of 
Sharpsburg. 

9. Each was slain while bearing aloft the flag of his regiment. 

Reared in different parts of the State, these young men were 
never brought together except on the field of battle, and had no 
personal acquaintance with each other. They were taught to 
know and to love each other by their fathers, who were very 
intimate. " Their hopes, their fears, their aims were one." 
" Lovely and pleasant in their lives, in their death they were not 
divided." 

As showing the desire of the men to procure Bibles, and the 
expedients to which we resorted to supply them, I give the 
following clippings from the newspapers of the day : 



March 17, i^ 

" Last summer," says a letter in a Southern Baptist paper, 
" a chaplain arrived in Staunton with several large packages of 
Testaments and tracts, which he was anxious to get to Win- 
chester, but had despaired of doing so as he had to walk, when 
a party of several soldiers volunteered to lug them the whole 
distance — ninety-two miles — so anxious were they that their 
comrades should have the precious messengers of salvation." 

Rev. B. T. Lacy, in the Central Presbyterian, says : *' The New 
Testament is the most popular book, the Scriptures of Divine 
truth the most acceptable reading, in our army." 

Rev. W. R. Gaultney writes to the Biblical Recorder, that, 
during the battle at Fredericksburg, he saw a large number of 
soldiers reading their Testaments with the deepest interest, while 
lying in the entrenchments awaiting orders. He witnesses the 
same every day in camp. 

" We were present not long since," says the Soldier's Visitor, 
'' when a chaplain, at the close of a public service, announced that 
he had a prospect of being able to get a supply of Testaments 
for the portion of the men still destitute, and that those who 
wished a copy could give him their names after the benediction 
was pronounced. Scarcely had the * Amen ' died on the minis^ 
ter's lips before the war-worn heroes charged on the chaplain 
almost as furiously as if storming the enemy's breastworks." 

Another narrates the following : "As some of the Confederate 
troops were marching through Fredericksburg, Virginia, with 
bristling bayonets and rumbling artillery, a fair iady appeared 



154 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

on the steps of a dark brown mansion, her arms filled with 
Testaments, which with gracious kindness and gentle cour- 
tesy she distributed to the passing soldiers. The eagerness with 
which they were received, the pressing throng, the outstretched 
hands, the earnest thanks, the unspoken blessings upon the 
giver, thus dispensing the word of life to the armed multitude, 
to whom death might come at any moment, all made up a pict- 
ure as beautiful as any that ever shone out amid the dark 
scenes of war. As a rough Texan said, ' If it was not for the 
ladies, God bless them, there would be no use of fighting this 
war.' " 

During a skirmish some of our men were ordered to the front 
as sharp-shooters, and directed to lie on the ground and load 
and fire as rapidly as possible. After a short time the ammuni- 
tion of one of these men was expended, and though his position 
was very dangerous as it was, it would have been certain death 
to procure a fresh supply. " In this condition," says an eye- 
witness, " this soldier drew from his pocket his Bible, and while 
the balls were whizzing about him and cutting the grass at his 
side, quietly read its precious pages for a few minutes, and then 
closed his eyes as if engaged in prayer." 

Camp near Petersburg, November lo. 
There is a general demand in the army for small Bibles. I 
have daily applications from soldiers so eager to get them that 
they frequently say they will give several months' wages for one. 
But the supply at all of the depositories and book -stores has 
long since been exhausted and there seems little prospect of a 
replenishment. Our brave boys must beg in vain for Bibles, 
unless the good people at home, who have hitherto contributed 
so liberally to the spiritual and temporal welfare of the army, 
will also come to the rescue in this matter. Almost every 
family might (by a little sacrifice) spare one or more small 
Bibles. A lady sent me the other day a Bible, owned by her 
nephew, a noble Christian soldier, who carried it in nine battles, 
and had it in his pocket when he fell at Sharpsburg. It was to 
her a precious relic, and yet she was willing to give it up, that 
its glorious light might illumine the pathway of some other 
soldier. I have given it to a gallant fellow, who says that he 
has been trying for twelve months to procure a Bible. Are 
there not others who will and can aid in this way ? 

J. Wm. Jones, Army Evangelist. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 155 

I have an old memorandum-book filled with names of soldiers 
from every State of the Confederacy who had applied to me for 
Bibles and Testaments, and some of the scenes I witnessed in 
my work of Bible and tract distribution are as fresh in my 
memory as if they had occurred on yesterday. I had a pair of 
large ** saddle-bags " which I used to pack with tracts and 
religious newspapers, and with Bibles and Testaments when I 
had them, and besides this I would strap packages behind my 
saddle and on the pommel. Thus equipped I would sally forth^ 
and as I drew near the camp some one would raise the cry, 
" Yonder comes the Bible and tract man," and such crowds 
would rush out to meet me, that frequently I would sit on my 
horse and distribute my supply before I could even get into 
the camp. But if I had Bibles or Testaments to distribute, the 
poor fellows would crowd around and beg for them as earnestly 
as if they were golden guineas for free distribution. Yes, the 
word of God seemed to these brave men " more precious than 
gold — yea than much fine gold." The men were accustomed to 
form " reading clubs," not to read the light literature of the day, 
but to read God's word, and not unfrequently have I seen groups 
of twenty-five or thirty gather around some good reader, who 
for several hours would read with clear voice selected portions of 
the Scriptures. 

I have never seen more diligent Bible-readers than we had in 
the Army of Northern Virginia. 

The efforts made by our Confederate people to supply our 
armies with Bibles and religious reading were worthy of all 
praise, and a whole volume would not suffice to give even a 
meagre record of the labors of the different societies formed for 
the purpose. 

Dr. W. W. Bennett, who was himself Superintendent of the Sol- 
diers' Tract Association, and a most efficient chaplain, has given in 
his " Great Revival " so admirable a summary of the work of 
these agencies, that I quote him, as follows : 

" So important was the work of colportage in promoting 
religion among the soldiers, that we feel constrained to devote 
to it a separate chapter. And the pious laborers in this depart- 
ment are eminently worthy of a place by the side of the most 
devoted chaplains and missionaries that toiled in the army re- 
vival. Receiving but a pittance from the societies that employed 
them, subsisting on the coarse and scanty fare of the soldiers, 



156 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

often sleeping on the wet ground, following the march of the 
armies through cold or heat, through dust or mud, everywhere 
were these devoted men to be seen scattering the leaves of the 
Tree of Life. Among the sick, the wounded, and the dying, on 
the battle-fields, and in the hospitals they moved, consoling them 
with tender words, and pointing their drooping spirits to the 
hopes of the Gospel. The record of their labors is the record 
of the army revival ; they fanned its flame and spread it on every 
side by. their prayers, their conversations, their books, and their 
preaching. They went out from all the churches, and labored 
together in a spirit worthy of the purest days of our holy re- 
ligion. The aim of them all was to turn the thoughts of the 
soldiers not to a sect, but to Christ, to bring them into the great 
spiritual temple, and to show them the wonders of salvation. If 
any man among us can look back with pleasure on his labors in 
the army, it is the Christian colporter. 

" The number of religious tracts and books distributed by the 
colporters, chaplains, and missionaries in the army, we can never 
know. But as all' the churches were engaged in the work of 
printing and circulating, it is not an overestimate to say that 
hundreds of millions of pages were sent out by the different 
societies. And, considering the facilities for printing in the South 
during the war, we may safely assert that never were the soldiers 
of a Christian nation better supplied with such reading as maketh 
'wise unto salvation ; and certainly, never amidst circumstances so 
unpropitious to human view, did fruits so ripe, so rich, so abun- 
dant, spring up so quickly from the labors of God's servants. 

" Earliest in the important work of colportage was the 
Baptist Church, one of the most powerful denominations in the 
South. In May, i86i, at the General Association of the Baptist 
Churches in Virginia, vigorous measures were adopted for sup- 
plying the religious wants of the army. 

" The Sunday-school and Publication Board, in their report 
on colportage, said : * The presence of large armies in our State 
affords a fine opportunity for colportage effort among the soldiers. 
These are exposed to peculiar temptations, and in no way can we 
better aid them in resisting these than by affording them good 
books. To this department of our operations we ask the special, 
earnest attention of the General Association. Shall we enter 
this wide and inviting field, place good books in the hands of 
our soldiers, and surround them by pious influences ? or shall 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE*S ARMY. 157 

we remain indifferent to the spiritual dangers, and temptations 
of those who are flocking hither to defend all we hold dear ? ' 

" The association cordially responded, and * recommended to 
the board to appoint at once, if practicable, a sufficient number 
of colporters to occupy all the important points of rendezvous, 
and prompfly to reach all the soldiers in service in the State ; 
that during the war as many colporters as could be profitably 
employed, and as the means of the board would admit, be kept 
in service ; that special contributions to colportage should be 
raised from the Baptist Churches, from the community, and even 
from such persons in other of the Confederate States as may feel 
interested in the welfare of the soldiers who are gathered from the 
various Southern States to fight their common battles on the soil 
of Virginia ; that steps should be taken to secure the issue of a 
tract or tracts specially adapted to general circulation among the 
soldiers.' 

** The work was put in charge of Rev. A. E. Dickinson, who 
had already acquired a valuable experience and a high reputation 
as the Superintendent of Colportage under the direction of the 
General Association. He sent forth his well-trained band of 
colporters into this new field, which they cultivated with the 
happiest results, and with a zeal and self-denial worthy of the 
cause of Christ. 

" One year after these labors were commenced, Mr. Dickinson 
said,- in his annual report : 

** ' We have collected ;^24,000, with which forty tracts have been 
published, 6,187,000 pages of which have been distributed, be- 
sides 6,095 Testaments, 13,845 copies of the little volume called 
" Camp Hymns," and a large number of religious books. Our 
policy has been to seek the co-operation of chaplains and other 
pious men in the army, and, as far as possible, to work through 
them. How pleasant to think of the thousands who, far from 
their loved ones, are, every hour in the day, in the loneliness and 
gloom of the hospital, and in the bustle and mirth of the camp, 
reading some of these millions of pages which have been dis- 
tributed, and thus have been led to turn unto the Lord.' 

" In his report for 1863, in the midst of the war, he says : 

" * Modern history presents no example of armies so nearly 
converted into churches as the armies of Southern defence. On 
the crest of this flood of war, which threatens to engulf our 
freedom, rides a pure Christianity ; the Gospel of the grace of 



15S 



CHRIST IN THE CAMP 



God shines through the smoke of battle with the light that leads 
to heaven ; and the camp becomes a school of Christ. From the 
very first day of the unhappy contest to the present time, religious 
influences have been spreading among the soldiers, until now, in 
camp and hospital, throughout every portion of the army, revivals 
display their precious, saving power. In one of these revivals 
over three hundred are known as having professed conversion, 
while, doubtless, there are hundreds of others equally blessed, 
whose names, unrecorded here, find a place in the " Lamb's book 
of life." ' 

"And in 1865, in reviewing the blessed work of* saving 
souls amid the bloody scenes of four gloomy years, the board 
said : 

" * Millions of pages of tracts have been put in circulation, and 
thousands of sermons delivered by the sixty missionaries whom 
we have sent to our brave armies. If it could be known by us 
here and now how many souls have been saved by this agency, 
doubtless the announcement would fill us with surprise and 
rejoicing. Hundreds and thousands, we verily believe, have in 
this way obtained the Christian's hope, and are now occupying 
some place in the great vineyard of the Lord, or have gone up 
from the strife and sorrow of earth to the peaceful enjoyments 
of the heavenly home." 

" The Evangelical Tract Society, organized in the city of 
Petersburg, Virginia, in July, 1861, by Christians of the different 
denominations, was a most efficient auxiliary in the great work 
of saving souls. It was ably officered, and worked with great 
success in the publication and circulation of some of the best 
tract-reading that appeared during the war. More than a hundred 
different tracts were issued ; and in less than one year after the 
organization of the society, it had sent among the soldiers more 
than a million pages of these little messengers of truth. The 
Army and Navy Messenger, a most excellent religious paper, was 
also published by this society, and circulated widely and with the 
best results among the soldiers. Holding a position similar to 
that of the American Tract Society, this association was liberally 
sustained by all denominations, and had ample means for sup- 
plying the armies with every form of religious reading, from the 
Holy Scriptures to the smallest one-page tract. Its officers, 
editors, agents, and colporters were among the most faithful, 
zealous, and successful laborers in all departments of the army, 



i 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 159 

During the period of its operations, it has been estimated that 
50,000,000 pages of tracts were put in circulation by it. 

" The Presbyterian Board of Publication, under the direction 
of Rev. Dr. Leyburn and other ministers of that Church, entered 
the field and did faithful service in the good cause. The regular 
journals of that denomination, a monthly paper — The Soldier s 
Visitor — specially adapted to the wants of the army, Bibles, Tes- 
taments, and most excellent tracts in vast numbers, were freely 
sent forth to all the camps and hospitals from their centre of 
operations. 

" The Virginia Episcopal Mission Committee heartily united in 
the work, and spent thousands of dollars per annum in sending 
missionaries to the army, and in printing and circulating tracts. 
Rev. Messrs. Gatewood and Kepler, of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, were the zealous directors of operations in Virginia, 
while in other States such men as Bishop Elliott, of Georgia, 
Doctor, now'Bishop, Quintard, of Tennessee, and the lamented 
General Polk gave the weight of their influence and the power 
of their eloquence, written and oral, to promote the cause of 
religion among our soldiers. 

"At Raleigh, North Carolina, early in the war, Rev. W. J. W. 
Crowder commenced the publication of tracts, encouraged and 
assisted by contributions from all classes of persons. In less 
than a year he reported : ' We have published, of thirty different 
tracts, over 5,000,000 pages, more than half of which we have 
given away, and the other half we have sold at about the cost of 
publication — 1,500 pages for one dollar.' This gentleman con- 
tinued his labors in this good work throughout the war, and fur- 
nished millions of pages of the best tracts for army circulation. 

" ' The Soldiers' Tract Association ' of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, was organized and went into operation in March, 
1862, and became a valuable auxiliary in the work of colportage 
and tract distribution. By midsummer it had put in circulation 
nearly 800,000 pages of tracts, and had ten efficient colporters in 
the field. Its operations steadily increased to the close of the 
war; and besides the dissemination of millions of pages of excel- 
lent religious reading, with thousands of Bibles and Testaments, 
two semi-monthly papers were issued, TJie Soldier s Paper, at 
Richmond, Virginia, and The Army and Navy Hei^ald, at Macon, 
Georgia, 40,000 copies of which were circulated every month 
throughout the armies. 



160 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

" In addition to these, there were other associations of a like 
character successfully at work in this wide and inviting field. 

" The Georgia Bible and Colportage Society, Rev, F. M. Hay- 
good, agent, was actively engaged in the work of printing and 
circulating tracts in the armies of the South-west. 

" The South Carolina Tract Society was an earnest ally in the 
holy cause, and sent out its share of tracts to swell the vast 
number scattered like leaves of the Tree of Life all over the 
land. 

" The presses in every great commercial centre were busy in 
throwing off religious reading of every description, and yet so 
great was the demand that the supply was unequal to it during 
the whole of the war. At Richmond, Raleigh, Columbia, Charles- 
ton, Augusta, Mobile, Macon, Atlanta, and other cities, good men 
labored day and night to give our gallant soldiers the bread of 
life ; and still the cry from the army was, ' Send us more good 
books.' At one period of the war the Baptist Board alone circu- 
lated 200,000 pages of tracts weekly, besides Testaments and 
hymn-books ; and, with the joint labors of other societies, we 
may estimate that when the work was at its height not less 
than 1,000,000 pages a week were put into the hands of our sol- 
diers." 

Rev. Dr. C. H. Ryland, who was a colporter in the army dur- 
ing the first year (sustained by his own church, Bruington, 
King and Queen county), and afterwards depositary, agent and 
treasurer of the army colportage work of the Virginia Baptist 
Sunday-school and Publication Board, has kindly furnished me 
the following additional facts and figures. 

The Bible Board, in its report for 1 86 1, said: *' We earnestly 
suggest to the association the importance of making prompt and 
adequate provision for supplying our soldiery with the Bible. 
While in aid of what we all esteem a noble and sacred cause, the 
protection of our homes, our firesides, our altars, our mothers, 
sisters, wives and little ones from desecration and outrage by 
wicked and cruel invaders, we put into the hands of our brave 
defenders appropriate weapons ; let us not fail to supply them 
with the means of washing- an even hio-her and holier, because a 
spiritual and Divine, warfare. Let us give every man not already 
armed with it * the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of " 
God.' " 

At the meeting of the same body in 1863, this board was "in-. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 161 

structed to correspond with pastors suited to the work and 
endeavor to engage them to labor as voluntary evangehsts in the 
army, and that the board defray their expenses." 

'Resolved: That this board be instructed, in connection with 
other boards which may deem such a measure important for 
their interests, to inquire into the expediency of deputing some 
suitable brother to visit Europe, for the purpose of procuring 
Bibles, books, tracts and any other appliances that may aid the 
general usefulness of such boards ; and, if deemed expedient, be 
authorized to make arrangements therefor." 

During 1862 and 1863 alone this Sunday-school and Publica- 
tion Board collected for army colportage ;^84,ooo. It published 
and distributed in the army 30,187,000 pages of tracts, 31,000 
Bibles and Testaments, 14,000 '* Camp Hymns," and thousands 
upon thousands of religious books sent by the people from their 
homes, and religious papers without number. 

During 1864 sixty colporters were kept at work in the army. 
These were kept supplied with tracts. Bibles and Testaments, but 
for this year the exact records have been lost. 

I regret that I have been unable to obtain fuller and more 
exact reports of the other Bible and tract societies ; but the fol- 
lowing clippings from war files of the religious newspapers give 
the most interesting details of the spirit with which our people 
engaged in the work, and the wonderful success which crowned 
their efforts. 

"The annual report of the Southern Methodist Episcopal 
Soldiers' Tract Association for 1863 shows a receipt during the 
year of ;$95,456.7i, and a disbursement of ;^64,470.6o. The 
association has issued for circulation 7,000,000 pages of tracts, 
45,000 soldiers' hymn books, 15,000 soldiers' almanacs, 15,000 
Bible readings for soldiers; and has circulated 15,000 copies of 
the Holy Scriptures — Bibles, Testaments and Gospels separately 
bound, 50,000 copies of Tlie Soldier's Paper and 20,000 copies 
of The Army and Navy Herald!' 

The Petersburg Express says : " When the war commenced, the 
Baptists of Virginia were extensively engaged in the work of 
colportage. They were soon impressed with the importance of 
employing this powerful agency in circulating the Scriptures and 
religious books in the army. After a few months' labor it was 
found that the colporters were highly esteemed by the soldiers, 
and Rev. A. E. Dickinson was instructed by the General Associa- 
11 



162 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

tion of Virginia to appeal to the Christians of the' South for 
means to publish and circulate Testaments and tracts. These 
appeals, made through secular and religious papers, were lib- 
erally responded to by men of all denominations. The board 
intrusted with the management of this immense work is com- 
posed of men of intelligence. They have sought distinction 
neither for themselves nor the society they represent. It has a 
history that will survive the present revolution — a place in the 
affections and a claim to the esteem of the public that time can- 
not shake. All of its numerous publications are said to be 
highly evangelical, and commend themselves to members of all 
denominations. We have no means at present of estimating the 
number of pages this society has printed and circulated. It has 
done much — and much remains to be done. The army is large 
and is daily growing larger. The demand for the Scriptures and 
tracts continues to be as great, if not greater than at any former 
period." 

Rev. A. E. Dickinson, the general superintendent of this 
board, gives the following incidents illustrating the feeling of 
our people generally at the beginning of this work : 

"When in Augusta, Georgia, some months ago, I made a 
public appeal in behalf of the soldiers then in Virginia. After 
the services were concluded a bright and beautiful little girl 
of four summers came up with a dime, and said, ' Tell my 
brother Johnnie howdie, and buy him some good little tracts 
with this.' She thought, of course, everybody knew //^r brother, 
and that there would not be any difficulty in finding him. With 
a glad heart she went away smiling at the thought that she had 
given her all. The next morning an old negro man came 
through the drenching rain to my place of abode, and made the 
following remark : * My heart was so sorry when I heard you 
tell of dem poor soldiers in Virginia — how dey starving for de 
Gospel ; and to think dat here I hab de preached word all de 
time, and there dey is fighting for me. My heart is monstrous 
'flicted when I think of my young massa out in de army, and I 
wants to send him de Gospel.' So saying, he placed a gold 
dollar in my hand and expressed his regret that it was * so little.' 
Several persons gave large sums ; but of all the hundreds thrown 
into the treasury it seemed to me that this little girl and this 
gray-haired African were the most liberal — they gave of their 



I 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 163 

poverty. God grant that 'brother Johnnie' and the * young 
massa ' may become savingly interested in the great salvation ! 

"A. E. Dickinson." 

Mr. Dickinson wisely secured the influence and help of our 
best men, as the following will show. Hon. John Randolph 
Tucker has been for years a member of the Presbyterian Church, 
and one of those public men who never hesitates *' to show his 
colors " — to speak out for Christ. 

'^Messrs. Editors : The following letter from John Randolph 
Tucker, Esq., Attorney-General of Virginia, will be of service to 
the cause I have the honor to represent. Mr. Tucker evinces 
the depth and sincerity of his conviction in this matter by his 
deeds, as, in addition to former gifts, this letter enclosed a hand- 
some donation. 

"A. E. Dickinson." 

" Richmond, June 19, 1862. 
^^Dear Sir: In compliance with your request I take great 
pleasure in expressing the conviction of my mind, that the 
scheme of colportage for the army under your charge is worthy 
of the support of every Christian and every patriot. Our cause, 
under God, is committed to the keeping of our noble army. 
That cause rises far above all secular objects ; for it involves 
within it our religion in its purity and in its successful dissemina- 
tion throughout our whole Southern country. The enemy has 
not only invaded our homes, but has desecrated our churches 
and stifled the voice of prayer in the temples of God, and seized 
His ministers clinging to the very horns of the altar. Freedom 
to worship God has ceased wherever the legions of the foe have 
advanced ; and the conscience of an outraged people, forbidden 
to utter its voice in public devotion, can only breathe its prayers 
for the rescue of our land from the enemies of our country and 
the despisers of our religion. But shall the defenders of a free 
faith and of our hearthstones be without the word of God and 
the means of personal salvation ? The scheme of colportage 
answers the question. By it religion noiselessly walks through 
the camp, sowing the precious seed among the soldiers of the 
South. It enters the hospitals and speaks peace to the sick and 
the dying, and lifts the broken and wounded spirit to the hope 



164 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

which anchors the soul in the haven of eternal rest. What may 
we not hope to accomplish in filling the ranks of our host with 
the true soldiers of the Lord of battles ? Shall we not rob 
war of much of its horror, when thousands of men, loyal to their 
country, but in disloyal opposition to the King of kings, shall 
be brought to acknowledge the sceptre of His power and yield 
obedience to His law? 

" The word of God — the tract which conveys little by little por- 
tions of that word to the mind of the soldier on duty ; the book, 
or paper or pamphlet, which leads him to the fountain of all 
truth — these are the means you use to make the citizen-in-arms 
a better, because a Christian patriot. The labors of the colporter, 
however humble and simple, thus become the instruments of the 
largest benefit to the army, to the country and to the kingdom 
of the Redeemer. To the sick, the wounded and the dying, 
stilling the noise and tumult of the battle with the gentle whis- 
pers of a Saviour's love, his presence is an incalculable blessing. 
The fruits of his toil are presented in a rich harvest already per- 
ceptible all through our army. Let him go on in the discharge 
of his duty ; let men everywhere sustain him by counsel and 
contribution, and we will see the work crowned with temporal 
benefits, which can scarcely be estimated, and with eternal bless- 
ings, which shall be full of glory. 

*' I am, dear sir, yours, very truly, 
''J. R. Tucker." 

And the following report of a grand mass-meeting held in 
Richmond in the same interest will show the general co-opera- 
tion of our people. 

''Messrs. Editors : Will you be kind enough to transfer to your 
columns, from the Richmond Whig, the enclosed account of the 
meeting held in the First Baptist Church on Sunday night, 
February 23 ? 

"A. E. D." 

** Last Sabbath evening, at the First Baptist Church of this 
city, an unusually enthusiastic meeting was held, in behalf of 
army colportage. Every seat was occupied, while many went 
away unable to find admission. After singing and prayer. Rev. 
A. E. Dickinson made some statements, giving an account of 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 165 

what had been effected by colportage labors among the sol- 
diers. 

" Rev. Robert Ryland, D. D., colporter for the hospitals of this 
city gave a deeply interesting narrative of his labors. He had found 
the inmates of our hospitals eager to receive instruction. Some- 
times they had professed to be greatly benefited by the. tracts, 
and often sent for him to come again. An invalid remarked to 
him, that prior to his entering the army he had enjoyed religion, 
and had been a member of the Presbyterian Church ; but, sur- 
rounded by the vices of the camp, he had become a backslider 
and lost all religious enjoyment. After frequent conversations 
he became much interested in his soul's salvation, sent for the 
colporter again and again, and before his death expressed himself 
perfectly resigned to the will of God. Other facts and incidents 
of much interest were narrated. 

" He was followed by John Randolph Tucker, Esq., in a 
speech of great power and eloquence. Mr. Tucker thought it 
augured well for the country that such an immense audience 
had assembled, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, 
to consider the spiritual wants of our army. We are passing 
through the most momentous era in the history of this country. 
The year 1861 was filled with victories and covered Southern 
arms with imperishable glory ; but from the beginning of this year 
we have met with nothing but disaster. Every message brought 
over the telegraph but tells of some new defeat. Why is this ? 
Up to the battle of Manassas our whole people were prostrate 
before God in prayer. The speaker had met with many on the 
street with prayer trembling on their lips, while tears of penitence 
filled their eyes. Now, those men have upon their lips blas- 
phemous oaths, and their eyes are never turned to God for His 
blessing. After the great victory of Manassas we ceased to realize 
our dependence on heaven ; and nothing was more common 
than to hear such expressions as, * We can whip the Yankees 
any way.' Greed and avarice have taken possession of the 
hearts of many, while in every portion of the Confederacy dis- 
tilleries have been springing up, until now the whole land groans 
under the liquid poison which is sweeping so many of our 
soldiers into the grave. Our streets are blocked up with men 
made drunk by the distilleries. How dare we expect the bless- 
ing of God when such things are tolerated ? It is the decree 
of heaven that ' righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a re- 



166 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

proach to any people.' It is vain to speak of the justice of our 
cause, unless we seek upon that cause the blessing of heaven, 
and use the instrumentality which Providence places in our hands. 
The speaker believed that piety will make a man a truer patriot 
and a braver soldier. It assures him that God is his friend; 
that ' all things work together for his good,' and that when he 
falls into the icy grasp of death, his soul will rise up to the 
unfading bliss of heaven. It is not necessary to refer to 
Cromwell, Havelock and other pious generals, to illustrate 
this great principle. We have illustrations in every division 
of our own army. Where can we look for a braver soldier 
than Stonewall Jackson ; and yet never had the speaker known 
a more humble and earnest Christian than this noble man. 
What will become of these hundreds of thousands of soldiers 
when they return ? If religious influences are not now brought 
to bear upon them, we may expect at the close of this war to have 
the country overrun with the most desperate, lawless men ever 
known in the South. In view of all these considerations, the 
speaker argued that this work has the most weighty claims 
upon all classes of the community. Mr. Tucker closed with an 
eloquent tribute to President Davis. In all his reading he had 
never known of a state paper closing, as the President's inaugural 
address, with an earnest prayer to the God of heaven, for His 
blessing upon himself and his country. 

*' Colonel Wright, member of Congress from Georgia, followed 
in an able speech. Nothing is more powerful than words, and the 
pen is mightier than the sword. From experience in command, 
he was prepared to commend this work. There is no better 
way to insure success in this great struggle than by surrounding 
our men with religious influences. It is difficult to get the 
soldier to attend regular preaching, but he will read a tract, and 
in the tedium of camp-life nothing is more acceptable. Colonel 
Wright closed with an eloquent appeal in behalf of the soldiers' 
spiritual culture. 

*' Hon. J. L. M. Curry said that he had made no promise to 
speak, but his love for the cause would not permit him to be 
silent when called out, if any words of his would advance its in- 
terests. He had no hope of success in establishing a free govern- 
ment unless Christian principle permeates all classes. There 
must be in high and low station a Christian conscience. We 
need a conservative element. This point was elaborated with 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 167 

power, and with that high order of eloquence so characteristic of 
this distinguished gentleman. Mr. Curry narrated some thrilling 
incidents in illustration of the good that may be done by circu- 
lating Testaments and tracts among the soldiers. 

" Judge Chilton, representative of the Montgomery District 
(Alabama) in Congress, said it was too late for him to enter upon 
any lengthy remarks, but that with all his heart he endorsed the 
cause. He believed it one of the holiest and most glorious to 
which a good man can aspire. He had given to it the previous 
Sabbath, but was willing to give again, and to contiime to give 
as long as he had a dollar and as any soldier's soul needed to 
be cared for. While the devil's colporters are going from camp to 
camp destroying the souls of our dear boys, he felt that the Chris- 
tian community must do all in their power to counteract their 
ruinous influence. A collection was made, amounting to ;^ 1,250, 
after which the congregation was dismissed, all feeling that the 
entertainment was an " over-pay " for going out on such an in- 
clement evening." 

Rev. Dr. A. E. Dickinson, of Richmond, now editor of the 
Religious Herald, has had a career of great usefulness in the 
varied stations he has occupied, but the assertion is ventured 
that he never had four years of more abundant evidence of God's 
richest blessing upon his labors than during the years he super- 
intended the grand work of his board in the camps and hospitals 
of the Confederacy, and pushed it forward with a zeal and con- 
secrated tact which entitles him to a high place on the record of 
our army work. 

The same may be said also of Dr. Bennett and others who 
had charge of army colportage. 

Dr. Dickinson, however, kept his work constantly and so 
prominently before the public, through both the religious and 
secular press, that our newspaper-files abound with most inter- 
esting details of the labors of his colporters, 1 00 of whom he 
turned into the cam,ps and hospitals at the very beginning of the 
war, and it is a \&ry easy task to cull from his reports all the 
material necessary, to further illustrate this chapter. I only re- 
gret that the material for a sketch of the labors of the other 
boards and societies i5 not so accessible. But none of these 
evangelical societies published sectarian tracts or engaged in 
sectarian labors during the war, and in giving, therefore, the 
work of one, I really give but a specimen of that of them all. 



168 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

I quote, then, iit extenso^ from the reports of Dr. Dickinson, 
and along with these such reports of others as I have been able 
to find. 

"A few weeks ago a soldier in the service of the Confederate 
States professed faith in Christ, united with a Baptist Church, and 
went on his way rejoicing. I have now before me a letter which 
this young soldier of the Cross has addressed to a member of the 
Sunday-school and Publication Board. ' Please find enclosed,* 
he writes, * ten dollars, in return for which please send me some 
good religious tracts, such as you may think best to distribute 
among the unconverted soldiers. I do hope and trust that the 
Lord is with us.' It is said that the angels of the Lord encamp 
round about those who love Him and hope in His mercy. Who 
will not aid in supplying this dear disciple with books and tracts, 
that he may distribute hundreds of dollars' worth of these silent 
preachers to his comrades ? There are scores of pious men in 
the army who will become voluntary colporters if we can supply 
them with books. What a field of usefulness this war has opened! 
May it not be that this is one of the ways in which God makes 
the wrath of men to praise Him ? Let all who can imitate the 
example of this pious soldier, and very soon the tree of life will 
be placed within reach of the tens of thousands of brave men 
who are now congregated within the limits of our State. 

"A. E. D." 

Brother J. W. Williams, Mathews county : " Our soldiers are 
all well. I have morning and evening services, weekly prayer- 
meetings, and preaching every Sunday. I have no tracts. Do 
send me some, that I may be placing them in the hands of the 
soldiers." 

Brother H. Madison, Richmond : " I have been laboring three 
weeks in the various encampments around Richmond, and so 
much have I been prospered that I feel like thanking God and 
taking courage. I find that, almost without exception, the sol- 
diers are religiously inclined, and hundreds of times have those 
who are not members of any church said to me that their only 
hope of success in this struggle is in God — that from their cradles 
they have been taught to believe in the Bible and to trust in the 
Saviour it reveals. There are many Methodists, Baptists, Pres- 
byterians and Episcopalians here, and some of them have public 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 169 

prayers morning and night, as they have been accustomed to do 
at home around the family altar. One young man looked over 
my books and selected 'Attractions of Heaven ' and ' The Gift 
of Mourners ' to send as a present to his sister in Mississippi. 
A few days ago a pious soldier said to me, as I entered an en- 
campment : * Your labors have not been in vain here, for two of 
the young men have professed to be converted.* I have circu- 
lated a great many copies of sermons which were given to me, 
and they have been read with unusual interest, so much so that 
numbers inquire of me as soon as I go among them : * Have you 
any more of those sermons ? ' My sales have been considerable ; 
they buy Bibles, Testaments, hymn-books, and books on almost 
every religious subject, though my grants are much larger than 
my sales." 

Rev. R. Lewis, Smythe county : " Though my sales have been 
small, I have been constantly at work visiting encampments, con- 
versing with our soldiers, holding prayer-meetings and distribut- 
ing books. I sell * Baxter's Call,' 'Alliene's Alarm,' 'Anxious 
Inquirer,' and many such books to soldiers. I was much pressed 
to stay with the companies I have visited, but am now about to 
start for the Abingdon encampment. I believe I can do more 
good among the volunteers than anywhere else." 

Rev. R. W. Cridlin, Matthias Point : *' I have disposed of all 
my Testaments. You can hardly conceive of the anxiety of 
soldiers for books. One said to me : * If I am spared to return 
to my home, I shall ever love the colportage cause, since it has 
done so much for me.' I could distribute i, coo Testaments to 
great advantage. I have begged a goodly number from the 
families around, but you must send me a large number. While 
urging the importance of Divine things on a company the other 
day, some wept freely, thus evincing their concern. Oh, let us 
labor for these dear souls ! Man}^ of them may be won to 
Christ." 

Brother C. F. Fry, Winchester : " I have been laboring in this 
place nearly two weeks. The most of my time has been spent 
in visiting the sick. Last Sunday I visited the hospital, talked 
with the inmates about the great salvation, and distributed among 
them tracts and Testaments. Two young men asked me to pray 
for them, and never can I forget how they wept and thanked me 
for searching them out. How I rejoice at being allowed to labor 
for the souls of these dear soldiers,'* 



170 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

" Last Thursday evening the Sunday-school and Publication 
Board of the Baptist General Association determined to have lo,- 

000 copies of the New Testament printed in Richmond. This, if 
we mistake not, is the first time the New Testament has ever been 
published south of Mason and Dixon's line. It is surely an im- 
portant move, and should be encouraged by all who feel in- 
terested in the effort to secure Southern independence. . , . 

**A. E. Dickinson, 

" General Superintendent." 

" Several young men in the Alabama regiments have been 
converted by reading the tract, ' Come to Jesus,' and the works, 
* Persuasives to Early Piety ' and ' Baxter's Call.' On another 
occasion I gave books and tracts to a young man who had been 
in several engagements since he left home, though he had up to 
that time escaped injury, speaking to him at the same time of the 
importance of being prepared to die. Shortly after I had a letter 
from him, stating that my advice had caused him to reflect on 
his past life ; that he had exercised faith in Christ, and now felt 
himself prepared for death. I often visit the sick in the hospitals 
with books. Among others, I conversed several times with the 
son of a Baptist minister, and on one visit was rejoiced to hear 
from him that he intended soon to write to his father (being, of 
seven, the only child not a member of the church) that he had 
taken Christ for his Captain, and felt better prepared for the great 
responsibilities before him. In one room, of five who were sick, 
two died. I embraced the opportunity of urging on the sur- 
vivors, who were much affected, the possibility of death and the 
necessity of being born again. One of them then and there re- 
solved to trifle no loncrer, and on the Sundav following I found 
him rejoicing in the Lord. I could multiply facts, but these 
may sufifice for the present. My stock of Bibles and Testaments, 
which was unusually large, is nearly exhausted, and I therefore 
hail with pleasure the proposition of our board to print the latter. 

1 trust that all friends of the Bible will respond liberally to the 
call made, and may the blessing of God attend the enterprise. 

" E. C." 

Rev. W. J. W. Crowder, who did so noble a Avork in printing 
and circulating tracts, gives the following statement concerning 
his work : 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 171 

"Messrs. Editors : I hope that a few facts about colportage 
among the soldiers will not be unacceptable to your readers. 
Though I have been acting as agent for the American Tract So- 
ciety in Norfolk, Portsmouth and the vicinity seven years, my 
labors have never been so blessed as from the 19th of April to 
the present time. I have distributed ;^300 worth of Bibles and 
tracts, and in all instances they have been gladly received by 
both religious and irreligious. 

" Since June ist, under the approval of all the pastors of this 
city, we have reprinted especially for the soldiers over 8 1, 000 
pages of each of the following appropriate tracts: *A Voice from 
Heaven ; ' ' Don't Put it Off; ' 'All-sufficiency of Christ ; ' ' Self- 
dedication to God ; ' * Private Devotion ; ' ' The Act of Faith ; ' 
* The Sentinel ' and * Motives to Early Piety ' — in all of these 
over 618,000 pages ; and of the excellent tract, ' Come to Jesus,' 
17,280 copies, or 545,280 pages — making in all reprinted, 1,163,- 
520 pages; in value, ;^930.56. These we have got out at the 
prices heretofore paid to the American Tract Society, New York 
— 1,500 pages for one dollar, and ' Come to Jesus' for three cents 
a copy. Nearly all of these have been sent to the soldiers, more 
or less, of all the Confederate States, most of whom receive them 
gladly, saying : ' This is the kind of reading we want to help us 
fulfil the promises we made to our wives, parents, sisters, min- 
isters and loved ones on leaving home, that we would seek the 
Lord.' Such expressions I have frequently heard from a great 
many of the more than seven thousand soldiers with whom I 
have talked on personal religion. 

" Recently a soldier of intelligence came to me in Richmond, 
Virginia, to express his thanks for the saving influence of the 
tracts he had received since being in camp. He believes they 
were sent to him in answer to a pious mother's prayers. He 
stated that before leaving home he felt but little interest in re- 
ligion, but now it is his delight and comfort. Another soldier 
in a Mississippi regiment writes that the tract ' Come to Jesus ' 
has been the means of leading him to Christ since being in Vir- 
ginia. A prominent officer in one of the regiments in Virginia 
writes : * I feel it my duty to say that the good influence exerted 
upon the minds and actions of our men by the Bibles, books and 
tracts you have sent us is incalculable ; and to my knowledge 
they have been blessed of God in producing a spirit of religious 
inquiry with many of a most encouraging character. I trust you 



172 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

and Christian friends at home will continue to supply all our 
soldiers with this means of grace, which is so well adapted to 
our spiritual wants, and can be diffused among us as perhaps no 
other can so effectually.' 

"An efficient colporter, who has been laboring as such many 
years about Charlottesville, Virginia, writes : ' I am devoting 
almost my whole time to the soldiers, and especially to the hos- 
pitals, in which there is a large number of sick and wounded 
here, and about as many at Culpeper Court House. This is 
one of the best fields for usefulness, as they have so much time 
for reading and thought. Over half of them are well enough to 
read, and most of them are very thankful for religious reading. 
I furnish many of them with Bibles and larger books to use 
while here, and tracts and smaller books to take with them when 
they leave. Yesterday I was conversing with quite a sick sol- 
dier, who told me he embraced religion since being in camp at 
Harper's Ferry, while engaged in prayer alone with his cousin. 
I want 1,000 copies of * Come to Jesus,' and a great many more 
of the other kinds you publish.' As Christians, we ought to im- 
prove every means possible .for doing good to the souls and 
bodies of these soldiers; and this is one of the most effective 
religious instrumentalities. The colporter should be kept well 
supplied with religious reading to distribute in his labors of 
mercy and love. . . . 

** W. J. W. Crowder, Tract Agent. 

" Raleigh, North Carolina, 
"September, 1861." 

"A pious lady who has been for some time acting as nurse 
among the sick soldiers at Culpeper Court House, writes to us 
as follows : ' I would be very much obliged to you if you could 
send a package of tracts. The poor soldiers are really begging 
for something good to read. This is true especially of the 
wounded. I hope that you will pray that the divine blessing 
may be bestowed on these afflicted ones who are so far from 
their loved ones, and that I may be a blessing to them. There 
is nothing I desire so much as, by nursing, to do good to those 
who have given up all for their country. There is great room 
for usefulness open to pious females now in ministering to the 
temporal and spiritual wants of our sick soldiers. I have lost 
four of my patients ; three died rejoicing in Jesus. They were 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 173 

intelligent, noble, godly young men. One from Virginia said 
to me as he was dying, " Sing me a hymn ; " I repeated, *' Jesus 
lover of my soul." He remarked, " Where else but in Jesus can a 
poor sinner trust?" Just as he passed away, he looked up to 
heaven and said, ''Heaven is so szveet to ine^' and to the presence 
of Jesus he went. Another from South Caroli^ia sang with joy, 

" Happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away." Young B , 

of Virginia, was resigned and even rejoiced at the near prospect 
of death. He repeated the lines, '* How firm a foundation, ye 
saints of the Lord." His end was peace. One of these young 
men had determined to enter the Christian ministry. I close by 
asking that you will send the tracts as soon as possible.' . . . 

"A. E. Dickinson." 

" Lynchburg, Virginia, September. 
"The tracts and Testaments and small Bibles I have given to 
the sick in the hospitals and in private families, a few to soldiers 
in camp, and to others passing through the city. There have 
been at times as many as 10,000 soldiers in the encampment 
here. There have been, and are now, a large number of sick 
soldiers here. Many soldiers have the Bible or Testament, and 
love to read it. A good many are members of churches. Far 
away from home and kindred, they are delighted to receive the 
visits of a brother-Christian, and to get something to read. So 
also on the part of the unconverted there is a strong desire for 
something to read. All receive the tracts and read them with 
delight. The Lord has blessed the work. I believe He has 
poured out His Spirit upon many. They have been awakened 
and have been led to hope in the Saviour; so they seem to give 
evidence. One soldier Avho died a week ago said, in a whisper, 
a short time before he breathed his last, when his nurse held up 
the tract, ' Come to Jesus,' and pointing to the heading, ' I can't 
see.' He was told it was the tract ' Come to Jesus,' and that 
Jesus says, * Him that cometh unto me I will in nowise cast 
out.' * Thank the Lord for that,' he replied. ' Have you 
come to Him, and do you find Him precious?' * Precious, 
thank the Lord.' And so he would say of all the promises 
quoted. On the same day I visited, in two different hospitals, 
two young men sick of typhoid fever. They both seemed con- 
cerned about their souls, and listened with apparent interest to 
invitations of the Saviour to come to Him. After a few days I 



174 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

visited them again; both were improving and rejoicing in the 
Saviour. Now they say they love Him more and more. Sev- 
eral tell me they delight to read the Bible now, and that since 
they became soldiers they have been led to seek the Saviour, 
and some hope they have found Him. Yesterday one told me, 
to whom I had given a tract, that at home he was a steady man, 
never swore, but that, becoming a soldier, he did as many 
others do — threw off restraint and did wickedly ; ' but now,' 
said he, * I have done swearing ; I will seek the salvation of my 
soul.' ... 

"A lieutenant in the Southern Army writes from Monterey to 
Rev. A. M. Poindexter: 

" * The soldiers here are starving for reading matter. They 
will read anything. I frequently see a piece of newspaper no 
larger than my hand going the rounds among them. If the 
bread of life were now offered them through the printed page, 
how readily they might be led to Christ. I have never seen a 
more appropriate and effective means of doing good than the 
distribution of tracts among the soldiers of the Confederate 
army.' 

" Such appeals as the above are almost daily placed in our 
hands, and frequently they are accompanied with funds from 
the meagre earnings of our soldiers. Our soldiers are literally 
starving for the bread of life. If we believe the teaching of the 
Word of God, how eagerly ought we to strive to aid in a work 
which proposes to seek out all the starving souls, and tell them 
of the things pertaining to salvation. 

"A. E. Dickinson, General Superintendent." 

" Rockbridge Alum Springs Hospital. 
"... Imagine 600 men, used at home to comforts, many of 
them well educated and piously trained, cut off for nearly four 
months from preaching, books and newspapers ; and then re- 
member that many of them have languished for weeks in their 
tents, lonely and depressed, having no way to pass the time; 
and remember too that these deprivations still exist in this hos- 
pital, and you can form some idea of the eagerness with which 
I am welcomed into every room. * Yes, and thank you for it ; 
I haven't had any good reading for a long time,' is the almost 
invariable reply when I ask a man to receive a tract. In the ab- 
sence of a better supply I preached for the men yesterday morn- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 175 

ing. For the want of a better place the services were held on 
the lawn, and in spite of the cold wind quite a good number 
attended. Their interest plainly told that they enjoyed the op- 
portunity to hear the truth, and several told me it was the first 
sermon they had heard for several months. There should by 
all means be a regular chaplain here. I gave away several 
pocket-Testaments and all the * Hymns for Camp ' I had with 
me, and as I walked out about sunset I found the men gathered 
in squads for the delightful exercise. Many are very tender 
about their souls, and seek rather than avoid conversation. On 
Saturday night I went to a room in which there were five men, 
all just rallying from the fever, and while there read, sung and 
prayed with them. None of them were Christians, but all 
seemed deeply affected, and during prayer one man sobbed 
aloud. 

" These little incidents greatly encourage me, and give prom- 
ise of speedy and lasting good. . . . 

" C. H. Ryland." 

The following is from Rev. J. C. Hiden, who was laboring as 
chaplain in the Wise Legion : " Can't you send me some Tes- 
taments and tracts? They are greatly needed in the army. 
Vast numbers of our soldiers have none. I was walking along 
near camp the other day, with some tracts under my arm, when 
a man on horseback said to me : ' Give me one of those to read, 
so as to keep me out of devilment.' 'Twas a rough way of ex- 
pressing a good idea, I thought. Of course I gave him one, 
and immediately the soldiers were swarming around me, desir- 
ing to be furnished, and were sadly disappointed when they saw 
that my supply was exhausted. I turned away with a sad heart 
to see so many hungering in vain for that which was able to 
make them wise unto salvation." 

A chaplain — Rev. W. B. Owen — thus writes from Leesburg, 
Virginia: "A package of tracts sent to Captain Ivey, Seven- 
teenth Mississippi Regiment, came to hand, and I am glad of 
the opportunity to thank you for them. I assure you, had you 
been present as I passed up and down every company in our 
regiment distributing them, and seen how eagerly they were 
read by the soldiers, you would be stimulated to put forth every 
exertion to scatter such blessings continually among the sol- 
diers. We have had considerable religious interest in our regi- 



176 

ment ; some have been converted, and others are seeking Jesus. 
If you can, do send us more tracts of different kinds, and lOO 
copies or more of that excellent tract, ' Come to Jesus.' " 
A surgeon writes : 

" Several interesting cases of conversion among the soldiers 
had occurred before the arrival of Brother Clopton at this post 
(Rockbridge Alum Springs). One of those cases it may be 
interesting to relate. A young man, who, from his own account, 
had been very ungodly, was brought to the hospital in a very 
enfeebled condition. He was confined to his bed for several 
weeks, gradually declining. I frequently conversed with him 
upon the great subject of his soul's salvation, and urged him to 
seek, by diligent and importunate prayer, the mercy of God and 
the pardon of sins. Some days before his death he told me, 
with a joyful expression of countenance, that he had found peace 
in believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. His evidences of pardon 
and acceptance with God were Scriptural, clear and satisfactory. 
Said he : ' Doctor, I bless God that you ever taught me the way 
of life and salvation. I have been a poor blind sinner all my 
life; but now I feel an assurance of happiness in heaven through 
Christ my Redeemer. Oh, I hope to meet you in heaven, and 
bless you there for the interest you have taken in my soul's 
salvation! ' He died in full assurance of a blessed immortality. 
Other cases of interest might be related ; but let this suffice to 
show that it is not in vain in the Lord to labor for the conver- 
sion of the most reckless soldier. I will just add, that I accepted 
the appointment of assistant surgeon in the hospital at this post 
that I might have an opportunity of preaching the Gospel to our 
soldiers, and I bless God that he permits me to labor in such a 
field of usefulness. 

" N. W. Calhoun." 

Brother J. C. Clopton, one of our colporters, writes : 
" During my stay among the forces under General Jackson I 
heard little profanity. There are many pious, Christian men in 
this division of the army, and among others the general himself 
I am told that he keeps on hand a supply of tracts, and occa- 
sionally goes among his men as a tract distributer. One of his 
aids inquired of me where tracts could be obtained, and gave me 
^5 to help on the cause." 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 177 

"Richmond. 
" Though there are interesting letters from several gentlemen 
who are employed at this post, we will give extracts from but 

one. Rev. Mr. C says : * I have been a month laboring in 

this city, during which I have distributed 41,000 pages of tracts, 
besides many copies of God's inspired word. I preach frequently 
(almost daily) in the hospitals or camps. A notice of a few 
minutes will suffice to bring together a large congregation, and 
never in my life have I witnessed such earnest, solemn atten- 
tion to the preached word. Oftentimes I meet with soldiers 
who tell me that they have become Christians since they entered 
the army, and not unfrequently I am asked by anxious inquirers 
what they must do to be saved. The soldiers, almost without 
exception, have ' received me with great kindness, and have 
appeared very thankful for reading matter. " Oh, how encour- 
aging to a soldier is a word of sympathy ! " said one of these 
sick men to me.* We have been enabled to bring out some 
10,000 copies of the New Testament, and to publish over 5,000,- 
000 pages of tracts ; and to-day have not less than twelve deposi- 
tories in the different States and 150 tract distributers at work. 

"A. E. Dickinson." 

" Lynchburg, Virginia, May 8. 
" There are about 3,000 in the hospitals of this city, and others 
are being brought here from more exposed points. It is the 
purpose of the authorities to establish hospitals at Liberty and 
Farmville. Several hundred sick soldiers are already in these 
two towns. The hospitals afford a most inviting field for relig- 
ious effort. The solemn quiet and the serious reflections which 
pervade the soul of the sick soldier, who, far away from home 
and friends, spends so many hours in communing with his own 
heart, is very conducive to religious improvement. ' An invaHd 
remarked that during the month he had been in the hospital he 
had read through the New Testament and the Psalms, though 
he was not a professor of religion. Last Monday, at an early 
hour, I walked through the hospital at Staunton, and found not 
a few of the inmates reading diligently their Bibles. There is, 
without doubt, considerable religious feeling in the camps. Take 
the following as one of many facts corroborative of this state- 
ment. After several days of long, weary marches. General 
Jackson's command came into Staunton Sunday and Monday. 
12 



178 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

The first regiments which arrived were literally overcome with 
fatigue and hunger ; and yet, when marched into the yard of the 
Blind and Deaf Asylum, though it was nearly sunset, and they 
had not had their dinner, as they fell down upon the green grass 
to rest their wearied limbs, many took from their pockets copies 
of God's word, which, with the utmost eagerness and solemnity, 
they perused. A soldier said of his Testament : * I would not 
take anything in the world for this book. It was given me by a 
pious lady.' In hundreds of instances the reading of tracts has 
been blessed to the spiritual good of our men. Major-General 
Jackson is a pious deacon in the Presbyterian Church, and 
Major Dabney, one of his aids, is a Presbyterian Doctor of 
Divinity. ' I wish, instead of two, you had a dozen colporters 
in my army,' said General Jackson ; ' and I am ready to do any- 
thing I can to aid you in so good a work.' There is reason to 
hope that in a i^w weeks fully a dozen colporters will be opera- 
ting among the soldiers in the valley. General Edward Johnson, 
though not a professor of religion, encourages colporters to visit 
his command. On one occasion, when orders had been given 
that no one was to be permitted to enter the lines, a colporter 
came, and no sooner was the object of his mission made known 
than the general gave him a cordial welcome. * We are always 
glad to see you ; stay with us, and do all the good you can.' 
He then took the good man to his own tent, and shared with 
him his blankets. We have now more than lOO engaged in 
these labors of love among the soldiers, and hope that the day 
is not distant when the number shall* be more than doubled. 
The fields are white unto the harvest. 

"A. E. Dickinson." 

"A few days since a colporter was distributing tracts among a 
niunber of soldiers. He gave to an of^cer of high grade a tract, 
entitled, 'A Mother's Parting Words to her Soldier Boy.' Turn- 
ing to the colporter, he said : * Oh, sir, I can never thank you 
enough for this tract ! The title itself is a most affecting sermon 
to me. My mother spoke words of tenderness and love to me 
as I was about to leave her for the army, and everything that 
reminds me of those words affects my heart.* Tears rolled down 
his cheeks while he spoke, so that a bystander afterwards 
remarked that he had never seen a man more perfectly subdued. 

" Thus it is that a mere sentence is often blessed of God to 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 179 

the good of souls. A one-page tract, headed 'JEternity,' was 
handed to a wild young man, and the word eternity filled him 
with alarm and was instrumental in leading him to Christ. 
' God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound 
the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world 
and things that are despised, yea, and things that are not, to 
bring to i;ought the things that are, that no flesh should glory in 
His presence.' 'A Mother's Parting Words,' etc., is a most 
interesting and touching tract of eight pages, written by one of 
the best writers in the Southern Confederacy. Let every mother 
buy a copy (price one cent) and send it to her ' soldier boy.' 

Brother M. D. Anderson, Richmond, Virginia : "A short time 
ago I met a young man from one of the upper counties of this 
State, who had been wounded. When I commenced talking 
with him on the subject of religion, he said, * Oh, sir, don't you 

remember that at the camp-meeting in you spoke with me 

on this subject? Do pray for me.' He has since been con- 
verted and raised up from his bed of suffering, and is actively 
engaged distributing tracts in the army, and in many other ways 
seeking to glorify his Saviour. An old marine, who had 
weathered many a storm, who was lying sick in the hospital, 
seemed astonished that I should urge upon his attention the 
claims of the Gospel. * How is it that you, a young man, 
should be so concerned about me, a poor sailor?' He said 
that rarely, if ever before in his life, had any one spoken to him 
about his soul. From day to day I visited him, and his interest 
in Divine things grew until, I think, he became a true Christian. 
He certainly died a most happy death. To-day a soldier, after 
receiving from me a few tracts and a book, handed me five 
dollars as a donation to the board." 

Rev. W. L. Fitcher, Petersburg, Virginia : " The work of the 
Lord is progressing in Petersburg. We scarcely ever go to the 
hospital without finding some one concerned about the salvation 
of his soul. The tracts are very kindly received and read with 
soul-saving interest by many." 

** The following report of Dr. R. Ryland's labors will be read 
with interest.— A. E. D." 

" With an interruption of ten days' sickness, and a short trip 
to Lynchburg with a view to restore my strength, I have labored 
regularly in the hospitals for the last eight months. Wherever 



180 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

I found the most destitution there I made the most frequent 
visits. I have usually conversed with each patient, or made an 
address and prayer in the hearing of all the inmates of the ward. 
I have distributed thousands of tracts, hymn-books, spelling- 
books and religious newspapers. These last have been particu- 
larly acceptable to the soldiers. The proprietors of the Religions 
Herald^ Central Presbyterian, Soiitliern Chiirchinan and Christian 
Observer have shown a cheerful liberality in furnishing me with 
their papers for distribution ; and, as they all conduct their jour- 
nals with ability and with a catholic spirit, I have thankfully re- 
ceived them and distributed them widely among the soldiers. 
They are more appreciated than tracts, because they afford more 
variety of matter. I take this method of suggesting to those 
subscribers to all these papers who have been within the enemy's 
line during part of the year, and who consequently have not re- 
ceived all their numbers, that they would do well to pay for the 
zvliole year, inasmuch as all the copies which failed to find them 
— and many more — were generously circulated among the con- 
valescents in the hospitals, and among the several camps. 

" The result of my labors I must leave to the final day to dis- 
close. Many cases of deep and thrilling interest have come 
under my observation. Some were fervent disciples of Jesus, 
who, during the war, having maintained their integrity, gave me 
a cordial welcome to their bedside. Others were rejoicing in a 
recent hope of eternal life. And many others exhibited marked 
anxietyabout their salvation, and received with a docile spirit every 
suggestion made for their benefit. I cannot begin to particularize. 
Suffice it to say, that since the battle of Seven Pines I have con- 
versed with probably 500, who, having passed through the 
recent bloody scenes either unhurt or wounded, have told me, 
with different degrees of emphasis, that they have resolved to 
lead a better life. They ascribe their deliverance to the special 
providence of God, and felt obliged to requite Him with love 
and obedience. I shall be disappointed if very many soldiers 
do not seek fellowship with the churches of Christ immediately 
after their return home. Let pastors look out for them. All 
these battles, with their hair-breadth escapes and their terrible 
sufferings, have produced a softened state of mind which harmo- 
nizes well with our efforts to evangelize. 

" If all the colporters and chaplains of posts in and near Rich- 
mond could have a meeting and agree on some plan of distribiit- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 181 

ing their labors, the benefits of those labors would be more 
equalized. By the present arrangement some hospitals may be 
visited by several brethren during the same week, while others 
might not be visited by any one for several weeks. It seems to 
me thdXyou would be a suitable person to attend to this matter. 

" Yours, etc., 

" R. Ryland." 

At the late anniversary^ meeting of one of our district associa- 
tions Dr. R. Ryland made the following remarks : " I have, from 
almost the beginning of the war, been laboring as colporter in 
the hospitals of Richmond, and my impression is that the results 
of this work are infinitely greater and more glorious than many 
believe. As to myself, every week's observation would have 
enabled me to write out facts and incidents of the most cheering 
character, enough to fill up half of the Religious Herald, and yet 
I have written but a few lines, leaving unpublished this great 
mass of facts, illustrative of the good this work is doing." 

Rev. Wm, ^I. Young said, as chaplain in the field as well as 
in the hospital, he had seen scores of instances in which the 
reading of tracts had been instrumental in the conversion of 
souls. The following is one of the incidents he relates : " Yester- 
day, going up Main street, I was hailed by a soldier sitting on 
the pavement : ' Parson, don't you know me ? Under God I owe 
everj^thing to you. While languishing in the hospital you gave 
me a tract which has brought joy and peace to my soul. If God 
spares me to go home, I expect to devote my life to the public 
proclamation of the Gospel.' " 

"At present a revival of religion is in progress at Camp Winder, 
near this city, and thirty-five have professed conversion. At 
Chimborazo a meeting of equal interest is in progress. Rev. R. 
W. Cridlin informs me that frequently from thirty to fort}' come 
up for prayer. IMany have professed conversion. An old man, 
who happened to be present a few evenings ago at these meet- 
ings, pro/essed conversion, and said : ' Thank God, to-morrow 
I leave for Georgia to meet my wife and children, to tell them 
what great things the Lord hath done for me.' 

'* Brother McVeigh, post chaplain at Farmville, writes me that 
a good work is going on in the hospitals in that town, and sev- 
eral have obtained ' a good hope ' through Christ. For two 



182 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

months there has been unusual religious interest among the 
soldiers in the hospitals at Lynchburg, and many have made the 
good profession. 

" Rev. J. B. Hardwick, post chaplain, favors us with a deeply 
interesting account of a work of grace among the hospitals of 
Petersburg, where lOO profess to have found the Saviour since 
they have been brought to that city. . . . 

"A. E. D." 

'' 'A Mother's Parting Words,' etc. This is the title of one 
of the most popular tracts ever published on this continent. 
It has been but a year since the first edition of 50,000 copies was 
issued. Recently we have been induced, by the frequent applica- 
tions for this tract, to issue the third edition of 50,000. Thus, 
within one year, 150,000 copies have been issued. But this is 
not all. The tract has been reprinted by the Methodist Tract 
Society located in Petersburg, and it may be by others. I sup- 
pose, in all, at least 250,000 copies have been issued. Hundreds 
have professed conversion from the reading of this tract, while 
thousands have felt their hearts moved to noble resolve by its 
appeals. * Do you know anything about my personal history,' 
inquired a soldier of a colporter, ' that you should give me this 
tract? Had you seen me part with my loving mother, and 
heard those " parting words " which she uttered, tlien it would 
not seem strange that you should select this tract for me. I 
thank you, sir; the mere title has done me good. I expect a 
rich treat from reading it.' An anxious mother, after many 
days of fatiguing travel, reached one of our Virginia hospitals 
just in time to witness the death of her noble soldier boy. All 
the sad, long days she had spent coming from her home in the 
far South, her heart was bleeding at the thought that her son was 
unprepared to die. *0h, if he were only a Christian, then I 
could give him up,' and then tears, such as none but loving 
mothers ever shed, would tell how deeply the heart was wrung 
with crushing sorrow. She reached the couch of her sick boy 
just in time to hear one sentence, but that was enough: 
' Mother, I have found the Saviour. Oh, that dear tract, "A 
Mother's Parting Words." ' God only knows how many such 
sons have passed from the hospitals and battle-fields of the 
Sbuth to the peaceful mansions above. I think it highly probable 
that never, in the history of tract literature, has as much been 
accomplished in so short a period by one tract. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 183 

"At the annual session of the Strawberry Association, a little 
more than a year ago, while the claims of colportage were 
before that body, Rev. J. C. Clopton, of Lynchburg, made some 
affecting remarks in reference to his son, who had recently 
entered the service, and spoke of the solicitude his wife felt, and 
of some of the efforts she had made in his behalf Rev. J. B. 
Jeter publicly thanked Brother Clopton for his speech, and re- 
marked that he had promised the superintendent of colportage a 
tract, and that Brother Clopton had furnished him with a theme, 
'A Mother's Parting Words to her Soldier Boy.' And in a few 
days the tract was written and printed. 

"A. E. D." 

Elder J. A. Doll writes : 

" ScOTTSviLLE, October 2. 

*' We have a gracious revival here, going on among the sol- 
diers and citizens. One service is held during the day in one of 
our hospitals, and another at night in the church. A goodly 
number of soldiers and citizens have already professed conver- 
sion, and the prospect is cheering." 

A private letter from a soldier who was in the Maryland 
campaign, published in the South-western Baptist, says : " I 
had my Bible in my right breast-pocket, and a ball struck it 
and bounced back. It would have made a severe wound but 
for the Bible." 

Brother H. Madison writes : " I have seen much of the good- 
ness of God since coming to the army. Many and warm thanks 
I receive from the soldier. Oh, it is a sad and yet glorious thing to 
see a Christian soldier. They are so happy, so powerfully sus- 
tained of the Lord as, far from home, they go through the dark 
valley. I might tell you the particulars of two such Ccises." 

Rev. M. D. Anderson : " I met with a young man some time ago, 
who said to me : ' Parson, you gave me a book (" Baxter's Call "), 
which I have been reading, and it has made me very unhappy ; I 
feel that my condition is awful, and desire to find peace.' I pointed 
him to the Lord Jesus. His regiment was ordered off, and there- 
fore I have not seen him of late, but have written to him. While 
in a hospital with my tracts, one poor afflicted soldier wept pite- 
ously and said : ' Sir, I cannot read ; will you be good enough to 
read some of those tracts to me ? ' I read several, and among 
them, * A Mother's Parting Words to her Soldier Boy.' ' Oh,' said 



184 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

he, ' that reminds me so much of my poor old mother, who has 
faded from earth since I joined the army.' He wept and seemed 
greatly affected." 

Rev. J. B. Hardwick : " God is blessing the distribution of 
tracts and the labors of chaplains and colporters here (Peters- 
burg). More than a hundred soldiers have been converted since 
April. I never knew a work of grace so powerful, quiet, and 
deep. It seems at times that the hospital is a Bethel. But we 
need more assistance — I call for reinforcements, and you must 
furnish them immediately, if possible. Send us at least two col- 
porters, one for the hospitals and the other for the camps." 

Rev. J. C. Hiden : ** Can't you send us a colporter here (Char- 
lottesville). There is a most encouraging state of things at 
present. I am holding a protracted meeting. Crowds attend 
the preaching, and some have professed a change of heart, while 
others are interested. It is an interesting sight to see men, 
wounded in every variety of way, sitting attentive to the story of 
the Cross." 

Rev. T. J. McVeigh, chaplain at Farmville : " My supply of 
tracts has been distributed, and the soldiers ask for more. I 
administered the ordinance of baptism (for the first time) a few 
Sabbaths since, in the Appomattox river, to a young soldier from 
Alabama. It was the most deeply interesting and beautiful scene 
I ever witnessed. All of the soldiers who were able to leave their 
rooms gathered upon the banks of the river, and seemed to have 
a high appreciation of the ordinance." 

Rev. Wm. Huff, Marion, Virginia : *' Our colporters now in 
the Western army are laboring with encouraging prospects. 
Rev. J. H. Harris is visiting General Marshall's command. He 
finds them destitute, and anxious for something to read. He 
says : ' After the labors of the day it is truly gratifying to see 
them grouped together, reading aloud to each other such portions 
of their tracts as interest them most, and speaking in the highest 
praise of the little camp hymn-books.' "... 

Rev. M. D. Anderson : " I formed the acquaintance of a noble 
young man, the nephew of a most useful Baptist minister. Found 
him interested in reference to his soul, and endeavored to explain 
to him the Gospel. He urged me to come to see him again, as 
he was quite sick. When I went again and found him sinking, 
on being asked how he was he replied, * I know in whom I have 
believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 185 

have committed unto Him.* At my next visit I found him unable 
to speak above a whisper. I stooped down to his ear and inquired 
how it was with him. He repHed, * I had rather depart and be 
with Christ, which is far better ; ' and in this dehghtful frame of 
mind he passed to his heavenly home." 

Rev. A. L. Strough, chaplain Thirty-seventh North Carolina 
Regiment : '* In our retreat from Newberne, North Carolina, when 
overpowered by the superior force of the enemy, we lost nearly 
all the Testaments, etc., we had, and have not since been able to 
secure anything to read except fifteen small volumes presented 
to us by Kingston Baptist Church. Our regiment is now in four 
different directions, hence the chaplain cannot be with them all. 
Before we left North Carolina there were 137 in the regiment 
penitently inquiring after the Saviour." 

Rev. W. G. Margrave : ** Besides laboring here and there in 
the camps and hospitals, I have paid special attention to the sick 
in Lewisburg. Just before I left home, I visited a sick soldier 
and read to him the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John. 
He said, ' I have but one more step to take, and I shall be over 
the Jordan of death,' and soon, in perfect peace, he passed away. 
I commit all into the hands of my Father in Heaven, and go 
forth to tell of Jesus' dying love. We must return to God and 
restore that of which we are robbing Him, if we would be blessed. 
Say to our Congress, restore to God His Sabbath by stopping 
the transportation and opening of the mails on the day of the 
Lord." 

Rev. A. M. Grimsley writes, from Culpeper county : " God is 
blessing us up here. Many of our brave boys have professed 
conversion. God grant that the work may spread." 

Rev. C. F. Fry : ** The past month I have spent in Winchester, 
Woodstock, and Staunton. Several have expressed themselves 
as being anxiously concerned about the great salvation. It was, 
of course, a delightful work to point them to the sinner's Friend. 
I also found many truly devoted Christians, who seemed rejoiced 
to have a colporter come among them. They are eager to secure 
reading matter. An officer remarked to me that he believed that 
the men would read more of a religious character now than during 
all their former lives, from the fact that they cannot obtain any 
other reading than that which the colporter carries them, and 
they are compelled to read to relieve the tedium of the camp 
and hospital." 



186 CHRIST IN 

Brother Henry Madison, near Winchester : " Every night, for 
some time, I have had prayer-meetings in the tent of Captain 

S , which is filled even to overflowing. My own heart has been 

made to rejoice at seeing how gladly the word is received, and 
how deep and sincere the interest seems to be. I have been* 
kindly received by officers and privates. I visited a wounded 
soldier, who told me that before the war he enjoyed the presence 
and blessing of God, but that the temptations and vices of the 
camp had swept him on in sin. Since the wound was received 
he has had time to repent of his backslidings, and seems now to 
have returned to his first love. *0h,' said he, 'it was a great 
mercy in God to send upon me this affliction, and I can truly 
say, with the apostle, that these light afflictions, which are but for 
a moment, are working out for me a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory.' " 

Rev. J. M. B. Roach, chaplain of Tenth Alabama Regiment, 
writes; "Just before the battle of Williamsburg, a Heutenant 
asked me for a copy of each of my tracts. He compressed them 
into as small a space as possible, and placed them in his pocket. 
During the battle he was struck by a ball which, in all proba- 
bility, would have deprived him of life had it not lodged in the 
tracts, which were just over his heart. He seems solemnly 
affected, and I trust will soon be at the feet of Jesus." 

Brother J. C. Clopton : " Passing along to the hospital and 
handing tracts to numbers of soldiers on the way, as I was ap- 
proaching a man the evil one tempted me, suggesting that it 
was hardly worth while to give hivi one ; but, going up to him 
and inquiring whether he was a Christian, I found instantly that 
he was under deep conviction of sin. ' Can you stop awhile 
with me ? I wish to speak with you,' he said. Then, as we sat 
together, with tears and sobbings he told me of his sin-burdened 
heart, and asked to be directed to Jesus. Another, nigh unto 
death, said to me, ' I am nearly to my journey's end, and, oh, 
sir, I would give worlds if I had them for the Christian's hope.' 
He seemed deeply moved, and I tried to explain to him the way. 
He has since passed to the spirit land." 

Rev. G. C. Trevillian : *' The revival is still progressing among 
the soldiers at this place (Lynchburg), and many are inquiring 
after the Saviour. I go from one to another, distributing tracts' 
in the day, and at night we have a prayer-meeting. About fifty 
have professed conversion in connection with the meetings at the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 187 

Baptist Church. I have also spent a week at Liberty, where I 
found a deep interest as to religious matters among the soldiers. 
Many of them begged me to hold a protracted meeting 
there." 

" Richmond, Virginia, December 19. 
'^Messrs. Editors : It was my privilege to attend a meeting for 
soldiers on last Sabbath, in one of the hospitals in Staunton, at 
which some twenty-five asked for the prayers of God's people, 
and all seemed to be serious in regard to the things which make 
for their peace. I was assured by the post chaplain (Rev. G. B. 
Taylor), that a great and blessed reformation had been effected 
in the hospitals. He said that in the early stages of the war it 
was very difficult to secure the attention of the men to the 
preached word. Many would sit with hats on during religious 
services, engage in conversation, smoke, walk about, etc. But 
now the room i? filled with earnest, solemn, and often weeping 
listeners, while multitudes eagerly embrace any and every op- 
portunity for securing the prayers of God's people. What is 
stated by this chaplain of his hospitals is substantially true of 
almost every hospital (and of many camps) throughout the 
Confederacy. Brother Taylor, with the aid of the Sunday- 
school and Publication Board, has established two large libraries 
for the soldiers at Staunton. The books are loaned out to such 
as will appreciate and return them. You would be surprised to 
see how admirably this plan is working. As I walked through 
the hospital, I found almost every man poring over a book, pre- 
senting very much the appearance of a college or university. 
Among the books selected for one of the libraries were " Bun- 
yan's Practical Works ;" and in a day or so after the enterprise 
began nine volumes of Bunyan had been taken out. 

"A. E. D." 

Rev. W. L. Pitcher, Petersburg : " There is still much re- 
ligious interest here among the soldiers. I handed, this morn- 
ing, to an aged soldier, the tract, ' The Sick and the Physician.' 
'That means the Saviour,' said he; 'Oh, that he were my Sav- 
iour!' 'Many of my company have become Christians,' said 
another, * and I too wish to learn what I must do to be saved.* 
He requested me to visit him, and aid him in securing life ever- 
lasting." 



188 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

"February 17, 1863. 

"After getting my tracts, hymn-books, etc., I supplied the 
Sixty-third, Fifty-first and Fifty-eighth Regiments, and also Der- 
rick's and Clarke's Battalions and Brian's Battery. The brave 
men received the tracts eagerly and thankfully, and were always 
pleased with an appointment for preaching or prayer. We held 
meetings in Monroe, and at the narrows of New river, and at 
Thorn Spring, near Dublin, where four artillery companies are 
now in camp. Never have I met with more patient and atten- 
tive audiences. One and another would inquire for Testaments, 
and express a resolution to lead a new life. With the batteries 
we held repeated meetings, and there is evidently an increasing 
interest in religion. Wherever I have gone among our troops, 
I have found a cheering proportion of pious men — soldiers of 
Christ. I have found young brethren who stand firm in their 
Christian integrity despite of temptation. Among these there 
are many who boldly advocate the cause of truth. 

" I have distributed 30,000 pages of religious matter, and 
humbly trust the Divine blessing has accompanied this labor of 
love. 

"J. T. Tabler." 

March 5, 1863. 
" Our Sunday-school and Publication Board has brought out 
recently a number of tracts, which will add not a little to the 
usefulness and reputation of its issues. We give their names : 

* The Evils of Gaming ; a Letter to a Friend in the Army,' by 
Rev. J. B. Jeter, D. D.— ' Swearing,' by Hon. J. L. M. Curry— 

* God's Providence, a Source of Comfort and Courage to Chris- 
tians,' by Rev. A. M. Poindexter, D. D. — ' For the Confederate 
Army,' by Hon. M. J. Wellborn. — ' David,' by Professor Geo. 
E. Dabney — and ' We Pray for You at Home,' by Rev. John A. 
Broadus, D. D. Besides these, the board has issued, in con- 
junction with the Georgia Bible and Colportage Society, editions 
of the following excellent new tracts : 

" ' Woman's Words to the Soldiers,' by Mrs. L. N. Boykin — 
' To Arms ! To Arms ! ' by Rev. C. D. Mallory— ' The Mourner,' 
by Mrs. M. M. M'Crimmon — and 'A Proclamation of Peace,' 
by Rev. J. L.. Dagg, D. D. The board has also succeeded at 
last in getting through the press ' The Soldiers' Almanac for 
' 1863,' prepared by Rev. George B. Taylor. In its selections, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE*S ARMY. 189 

this bears the marks of the editor's usual piety, judgment and 
taste." 

The following is frpm one of the most useful ministers we 
ever had in Virginia : , 

" Petersburg, February, 1863. 

''Dear Brother Dickinson : I do not know whether regular re- 
ports are required of your colporters, but I have thought it 
would be well to forward to you a brief statement concerning 
my labors here during the past month. There are several hos- 
pitals in this place, all, except one, capable of accommodating a 
large number of patients. They are generally w^ell filled, but at 
this time the number of patients is considerably reduced. The 
officers and patients have warmly welcomed me in my visits 
among them. Tracts and other religious publications are 
eagerly received, and seem to be read with great interest. 

* Come again, soon, with your tracts and papers,' is the repeated 
request, as I have been about to leave them. I have aimed to 
engage every man in the hospitals in special conversation on the 
subject of religion. Frequently, these have been very profitable 
seasons to me, and I trust have been beneficial in many cases. 
Often I find a tract a valuable help in conversation, suggesting 
some important train of thought, and affording me the oppor- 
tunity to urge the reading of it with a serious and prayerful 
spirit. A day or two since an instance occurred which I trust 
betokens a good connection with such a course. I gave a young 
man Brother Shaver's tract, ' You Must Labor for Salvation,' tell- 
ing him there were many things in it he would not receive un- 
less God should influence his heart, and urging him, while he 
read it, to pray that he might be made willing to believe and re- 
ceive whatever is true in reference to his soul's salvation. At 
the period above referred to I saw him, and inquired of him if 
he had read the tract as I requested. He could only answer 
with his tears, w^hile I felt ' encouraged to press on him the 
claims of the Gospel, and commend to him its preciousness. 
Some conversation then ensued which gave me hope that he 
had been graciously enlightened through the instrumentality of 
the printed message placed in his hands. There are many 

* refugees ' here from the country below, to whom I have felt it 
my duty to direct my labors. Such of these as appear to be 
strangers I have given particular attention to, especially if they 



190 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

were in needy circumstances. On many accounts, this has been 
arduous service ; but I have felt in my soul a recompense, as 
these have generally evinced great interest in my visits among 
them. The three chaplains on duty here are very attentive to 
the hospitals, and co-operate with me heartily. Another large 
hospital will be opened here very soon. There are. also some 
regiments quartered around us, which I intend to visit. I feel 
that this is a great work in which I am engaged. Pray for me. 

"Yours truly, 

" T. Hume." 

March 12, 1863. 

Brother M. D. Anderson : " I have for some time been aiding 
in a revival now in progress at Fredericksburg, at which up- 
wards of sixty soldiers have professed conversion. Last night 
about o?ie hundred asked for the prayers of Christians. A great 
work is going on." 

Brother G. C. Trevillian, Lynchburg, Virginia : "We have a 
soldiers' reading room here, which is well supplied with re- 
ligious papers. Our hospitals are very much thinned out. A 
few days since I was sent for to be with a dying man, who de- 
sired to see a minister gf the Gospel. I found him rejoicing in 
a hope of strengthened faith. Our prayer-meetings continue 
with increasing interest. We have also an interesting Bible- 
class, which meets every Sunday morning." 

Brother Bagby, besides his labors as colporter, renders valu- 
able service by occasionally taking an agency tour for us. He 
recently spent a few weeks in the Rappahannock Association, 
and returned with ^850. We would like to appoint a few more 
such laborers. Rev. J. H. Campbell writes, from Savannah : 
" Last Sunday, at a meeting held at this place, at least three htm- 
dred soldiers came forward for prayer." 

Brother Campbell writes most imploringly for reading matter, 
and says : " The soldiers manifest more anxiety for reading mat- 
ter oi late than ever before." 

Three of the most useful Baptist ministers in Georgia, Elders 
J. H. Campbell, S. Landrum and D. G. Daniel, are now acting 
as tract distributers for us at Savannah. 

Rev. W. L. Fitcher writes, from Petersburg, Virginia: "I 
have enjoyed many interesting seasons among the soldiers since 
I've been in your employ. Have always been kindly received 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 191 

by officers and men, and the kind thanks that I have received 
from them have fully repaid me for all my labors." Rev. John 
H. Taylor writes, from near Guinea's Depot, Caroline county: 
"A very interesting meeting is in progress here, conducted by 
the chaplains of the different regiments in this brigade. Oh 
that there may be an abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit! 
I find the men very anxious for something to read, and there is 
a prospect of effecting good among them." 

Rev. J. N. Fox, Culpeper Court House : " I was greatly im- 
pressed, yesterday, with the magnitude and importance of my 
work, when for hours I was besieged by the soldiers for the 
Word of God, and saw, too, how ready they were to be advised 
with in regard to the great concerns of the soul. At my meet- 
ings there is good attention to the word spoken. Oh that the 
Lord will prepare me to be faithful to souls ! " Rev. M. D. An- 
derson furnishes us with an interesting account of the great re- 
vival which for weeks has been progressing in Fredericksburg 
among the soldiers. Scores there have become " obedient to 
the faith."— A. E. D. 

April 30, 1863. 

Rev. Perry Hawkins, writing to the Confederate Baptist, gives 
the following account of a conversion among the soldiers at 
Pocotalio, as related by the subject of it : " When I entered the 
army, I was the chief of sinners. I did not love God, nor my 
own soul, but pursued the ways of unrighteousness with ardor, 
without ever counting the cost. I studiously shunned preaching 
and our faithful chaplain, lest he should reprove me; and when 
he was preaching in the camp I would be in my tent gambling 
with my wicked companions. One day he presented me a tract, 
entitled, ' The Wrath to Come,' and so politely requested me to 
read it that I promised him I would, and immediately went to 
my tent to give it a hasty perusal. I had not finished it before 
I felt that I was exposed to that ' wrath ; ' and that I deserved to 
be damned. It showed me so plainly where and what I was 
that I should have felt lost without remedy had it not pointed 
me to that glorious " Refuge," which I trust has indeed been a 
refuge to me from the storm ; for I now feel that I can hope and 
trust in Christ," 

Rev. W. G. Margrave, who is alluded to in the following letter, 
was spared to continue his work until some years after the war, 
when, full of labors and ripe for heaven, he ** went up higher : " 



192 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

" For more than forty years this venerable brother has been 
travelhng the mountains and valleys of Western Virginia as a 
colporter. He is probably the oldest tract man in the South. 
Hardly a day for twoscore years, except when hindered by 
sickness, but has found him in the lowly cabin comforting the 
sad, arousing the careless, kneeling in prayer with those who 
scarcely ever before had heard the voice of prayer, distributing 
tracts, and directing all to the * sinner's Friend.' Hundreds, it 
may be thousands, have professed faith in Christ in connection 
with his labors. Some time since, when entering a public con- 
veyance, Brother Margrave was embraced by one, a stranger to 
him, who, with the deepest emotion, remarked : ' I thank God 
for the privilege of once more meeting with you. Thirty years 
ago, when I was a child, you gave me a book, which under God 
has made me all I am.' Thus it is with many others who now 
occupy positions in Church and State. All they are, and all 
they hope to be, is traceable to the influence which this brother 
exerted upon them. From the very first of the war Brother 
Margrave has been following our armies in Western Virginia 
like a ministering angel, pointing to heaven and leading the 
way. Recently his aged companion was removed from earth to 
heaven ; but, though greatly crushed in spirit, he falters not in 
his devotion to the great cause to which his life has been given. 
Mr. Samuel Price, of Greenbrier, so well known in Eastern as 
well as Western Virginia, and a Presbyterian, pays Brother 
Margrave a handsome tribute in a private letter just received. 
* I desire to say,' writes Mr. Price, * that he has been indefati- 
gable in his labors, in visiting the sick, attending the camps, 
distributing tracts, etc. ; and, indeed, in doing everything that an 
industrious, pious Christian minister could do. We should feel 
his loss in this section most seriously. It would be positively 
irreparable. He is the most efficient colporter that I remember 
ever to have known.' What an example have we here for those 
who have a heart to do good in the colportage work ! If one 
will only contiruie at these labors, instead of growing weary of 
them, as so many do after a few months, he will, as the years 
pass away, see rich clusters of fruit ripening around him, and 
then, when called home to heaven, he will be * held in ever- 
lasting remembrance ' by those whom he has won for Christ." — 
A. E. D. 

A few days since, a lady said to Elder William G. Margrave : 



• OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 193 

" My husband, before he became a soldier, rarely ever read the 
word of God, but now he delights in perusing its blessed pages. 
He hopes that his sins are forgiven, and that he is a child of 
God." Through what instrumentality was this soldier con- 
verted ? A lady in Fincastle, who from the beginning of the 
war has been a tract distributer, furnished the printed page 
which, under God, brought about this change. Thus does the 
Divine Spirit honor those who seek to honor the Master by 
saving precious souls. We know not what word, what page, 
what sermon is thus to be honored, and hence, " Blessed are 
they that sow beside all waters." " In the morning sow thy 
seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand, for thou 
knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that, or whether 
they both shall be alike good." — A. E. D. 

The following from the Christian Advocate, communicated by 
a chaplain, is suggestive : "A young man in my company," said 
a lieutenant in one of our regiments, *' came out before his 
comrades and openly embraced religion to the surprise of us all. 
One day he happened in my tent, and I inquired by what means 
his mind was awakened so suddenly to the subject of religion. 
He took from his pocket a letter from his mother, saying, 'There 
is something in that letter which affected me as it had never done 
before.' The letter said : * We have sent you a box of nice 
clothes, and a fine variety of cakes and fruits, and other luxuries 
and comforts, and many good times we hope you will have 
enjoying those nice things with your friends.' Near the close 
of the letter were these words : 'We are praying for y on, Charlie, 
that you may become a Christian! * That's the sentence,' said 
the grateful boy, and the tears gushed from his eyes. * When I 
was eating those dainties, I thought, mother is praying for me. 
I knew where she used to go to pray, and I could almost hear 
the words, " We are all praying for you, Charlie, that you may 
become a Christian." Now, I thank God for a praying mother, 
for her prayer is answered, and I am happy.' " 

" The amount contributed during July and August for the Sun- 
day-School and Publication Board will not fall short of twenty 
tJioitsand dollars. Never have the churches responded more 
liberally to the claims of this board than of late. A church in 
Pittsylvania county (Shockoe) has this year given ;^2,400 — one 
member leading the list with ;^900 — a larger amount than a few 
years ago was contributed by all the churches in Virginia to 
13 



194 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

Baptist colportage. Berea Church, in Louisa county, instead 
of giving us about ;$ioo as formerly, has already raised in the 
neighborhood of ^i,ooo as its contribution for this year. The 
churches of the James River Association sent up to their annual 
meeting an average of more than ;^200 apiece without a word 
being said to any one of them by an agent." . . . — A. E. D. 

" Brother E. Steadman, of Georgia, authorized Elder A. E. 
Dickinson to draw on him for ;^ 2 5,000 for army colportage. 
This is in addition to the ;^6,ooo recently paid by him to our 
board for the same purpose." 

*'A wounded Confederate captain was recently baptized at 
Shelby, North Carolina, who was awakened and led to Jesus 
while in camp by a " fragment of a religious tract " which he 
picked up in an adjoining grove." 

*'A missionary in the Army of Northern Virginia mentions the 
case of a lady at home who attributed her conviction and subse- 
quent conversion to a tract which her cousin in the army pro- 
cured from our depository at Orange Court House, and sent to 
her last winter." 

" Orange Court House, Virginia. 

"I have conversed with soldiers daily since I have been 
stationed at this place, and have heard much to encourage me in 
my labors of love. A young man, a few days ago, gave me an 
account of the state of his company about a year ago. Brother 
M. D. Anderson visited them, commenced a series of meetings, 
a number professed conversion and now they have a company 
of praying men — a year ago they had a company of gamblers. 
In visiting the hospitals of this place, I have conversed with 
many who were anxious about their souls' salvation, and seemed 
much gratified at my visiting and praying for them. I have 
been very busy this week, receiving and sending books and 
tracts to chaplains, and to Christians in regiments where they 
have no chaplains. Please send all the books you can, Testa- 
ments, Bibles, etc. ; the soldiers are anxious for something to 
read. I wish you could be here and see what a perfect rush 
there is for books and tracts. I could give many interesting 
incidents, as related to me, of the good results from reading your 
publications, but must close. 

" C. F. Fry." 

The above details might be almost indefinitely multiplied, and 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 195 

the work of the colporters described up to the very close of the 
war; for they carried the "bread of hfe " to the trenches at 
Petersburg, and did not cease their labors until the dissolution 
of the army at Appomattox. But want of space forbids further 
details, and besides, the labors of the colporters soon mingled 
with those of the chaplains and missionaries, and will be further 
described as we tell the story of the great revivals which resulted 
from God's blessing on these combined labors. 



CHAPTER VI. 

HOSPITAL WORK. 

THE work of colportage and the work in the hospitals run 
into each other so naturally that it is really difficult to 
separate them into chapters, and much written about the one 
will apply equally to the other. Eternity alone will reveal the 
amount, character and results of work in the Confederate hos- 
pitals. 

" Wayside hospitals," where the sick and worn-out were cared 
for — " field hospitals," in rear of the line of battle — " receiving 
hospitals," from which the sick and wounded were distributed — 
and large hospitals in the cities, towns or other suitable places — 
all had their peculiar features, presented fields of great useful- 
ness, and were scenes of self-sacrificing labors and touching inci- 
dents. 

I want to bear testimony to the fact that (while, of course, 
there were some incompetents and a few brutes in the service) 
our Confederate surgeons were as able, skilful and humane men as 
have ever been seen in this noble profession. 

They labored under great disadvantages in their lack of suita- 
ble medicines and appliances, and their lack of hospital stores, 
proper rations, etc. ; but they did their best and had almost 
miraculous success in their treatment of the sick and wounded. 

But even more than to the surgeons the credit of any comfort 
or sunshine in the hospital was due to our noble women, who 
were indeed " ministering angels " to our boys, and ready at all 
times to sacrifice themselves for the welfare of the humblest 
private who marched to the music of Dixie, or yielded to the 
bullet or to disease. 

That noble young " heroine of Winchester," who sat all night 
on the battle-field of Kernstowh holding the head of an uncon- 
scious youth of whom she knew nothing save that he was a Con- 
federate soldier, and who saved his life at the imminent risk of 
her own, was but a type of those Confederate " Florence Nightin- 
(196) 



RELIGION IN lee's ARMY. 197 

gales " who were found in every hamlet, and came to serve in 
every hospital. 

A gifted Southern lady, who was herself an " angel of mercy " 
to many a sick and wounded soldier, has thus described these 
" wayside hospitals : " 

" These wayside hospitals are located, generally, at the depot 
of some railroad, where the sick and wounded soldier immedi- 
ately, as he leaves the cars, exhausted, weary and faint, finds a 
grateful shelter ; where surgical aid, refreshments and attention 
are immediately tendered him. These institutions are generally 
supported entirely by voluntary contributions, and refreshing 
and delightful it is to see the unstinted supplies coming daily in 
and always equalling the demand. Much faith and prayer have 
been put in exercise for these tarrying-places for the war-worn 
soldier, so that their ' bread and water ' have never failed ; nor 
do we believe they ever shall while the people of a covenant- 
keeping God claim His exceeding great and precious-promises. 

" There are many cases of pathetic interest to be met with at 
these hospitals. One I will relate, as an incentive to early piety, 
and as another testimony to the power of our holy religion : 

**After I had ministered to several of the wounded I drew 
near to the couch of one whose case was considered one of the 
worst there, but who appeared, since his wounds had been 
dressed and refreshments administered to him, much relieved. 
After conversing some time with him he asked my name. I 
told him, and that I was the wife of the gentleman who had just 
given him his breakfast (for he had to be fed as an infant). I told 
him, moreover, that the gentleman was a preacher — a Methodist 
preacher. * I am a member of the Methodist Church,' said he. 
* Would he be kind enough to pray for me now ? for I have 
not heard the voice of prayer for many months.' 

"After the prayer was ended the subject of religion continued 
to be our theme. He said he was quite resigned to God's will 
concerning him, and that he was not afraid to die ; and while 
dwelling on the goodness of God his countenance assumed that 
serene and beautiful expression indicative of peace within and 
joy in the Holy Ghost. Well was it for him that he had strength 
from on high, and that the everlasting arms of God's love were 
his support, for in a few hours from the time we conversed 
together it was found amputation of his arm would be necessary, 
from which he suffered excruciatingly until death came to his 



198 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

relief. But all the time of his mortal agony his faith remained 
firm and unshaken, and he pillowed his sinking head on the 
bosom of Jesus, and ' breathed his life out sweetly there ' while, 
to all around, witnessing a good confession of Christ's power to 
save to the uttermost all those that put their trust in Him." 

At Richmond, Virginia, there was a little model hospital 
known as the ** Samaritan," presided over by a lady who gave it 
her undivided attention, and greatly endeared herself to the sol- 
diers who were fortunate enough to be sent there. " Through 
my son, a young soldier of eighteen," writes a father, " I have 
become acquainted with this lady superintendent, whose memory 
will live in many hearts when our present struggle shall have 
ended. But for her motherly care and skilful attention my son, 
and many others, must have died. One case of her attention 
deserves special notice : a young man, who had been previously 
with her, was taken sick in camp near Richmond. The surgeon 
being absent, he lay for two weeks in his tent without medical 
aid. She sent several requests to his captain to send him to her, 
but he would not in the absence of the surgeon. She then 
hired a wagon and went for him herself; the captain allowed 
her to take him away, and he was soon convalescent. She says 
she feels that not their bodies only, but their souls are com- 
mitted to her charge. Thus, as soon as they are comfortably 
fixed in a good, clean bed, she inquires of every one if he has 
chosen the good part ; and through her instruction and prayers' 
several have been converted. Her house can easily accommodate 
twenty, all in one room, which is made comfortable in winter 
with carpet and stove, and adorned with wreaths of evergreen 
and paper flowers; and in summer well ventilated, and the win- 
dows and yard filled with green-house plants. 

"A library of religious books is in the room, and pictures are 
hung round the walls. Attached is a dining-room for the con- 
valescent patients, supplied by private families, except the tea 
and coffee, which, are made in the room ; and there is also a 
dressing-room, where they keep their knapsacks, etc. The rooms 
are kept in order by the convalescents, who serve under her 
direction, and learn to love their respective duties. The sick 
are supplied with everything that can make them comfortable. 
Morning and evening services are held, consisting of reading the 
Scriptures, singing and prayer; and she is her own chaplain, ex- 
cept when she can procure a substitute. Thus has she been 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 199 

engaged since April, 1861, with uninterrupted health and unpar- 
alleled success, making soldiers and mothers and wives glad, and 
heaven rejoice over repenting sinners." 

Here is another sketch of a soldiers* friend who labored in 
some of our largest hospitals. 

** She is a character," writes a soldier, " a Napoleon of her 
department ; with the firmness and courage of Andrew, she pos- 
sesses all the energy and independence of" Stonewall " Jackson. 
The officials hate her ; the soldiers adore her. The former name 
her * The Great Eastern,' and steer wide of her track; the latter 
go to her in all their wants and troubles, and know her by the 
name of* Miss Sally.' She joined the army in one of the regi- 
ments from Alabama, about the time of the battle of Manassas, 
and never shrunk from the stern privations of the soldier's life 
from the moment of leaving camp to follow her wounded and 
sick Alabamians to the hospitals of Richmond. Her services are 
not confined, however, to the sick and wounded from Alabama. 
Every sick soldier has now a claim on her sympathy. Why, 
but yesterday, my system having succumbed to the prevailing 
malaria of the hospital, she came to my room, though a stranger, 
with my ward nurse, and in the kindest manner offered me her 
services, and soon after leaving returned to present me with a 
pillow of feathers, with case as tidy as the driven snow. The 
very sight of it was soothing to an aching brow, and I blessed 
her from heart and lips as well. I must not omit to tell why 
' Miss Sally ' is so disliked by many of the officials. Like all 
women of energy, she has eyes whose penetration few things 
escape, and a sagacity fearful or admirable, as the case may be, 
to all interested. If any abuse is pending, or in progress in the 
hospital, she is quickly on the track, and if not abated, off ' The 
Great Eastern ' sails to head-quarters. A few days ago, one of 
the officials of the division sent a soldier to inform her that she 
must vacate her room instantly. * Who sent you with that mes- 
sage to me? 'she asked him, turning suddenly around. * Dr. 

,' the soldier answered. * Pish ! ' she replied, and swept on 

in ineffable contempt to the bedside, perhaps, of some sick 
soldier. 

" She always has plenty of money to expend in her charitable 
enterprises, and when not attending in the wards, or at the cook- 
ing-stove, dresses with care in the neatest black silk. Such a 
woman merits an honorable fame." 



200 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

A lady, writing from the hospital at Culpeper Court House, 
says : " I have lost four of my patients. Three of them died 
rejoicing in Jesus. They were intelligent, noble, godly young 
men. One from Virginia said to me as he was dying : * Sing me 
a hymn.' I repeated, ' Jesus, lover of my soul.' He remarked, 
'Where else but in Jesus can a poor sinner trust?' Just as he 
passed away, he looked up and said, * Heaven is so sweet to 
me ; ' and to the presence of Jesus he went. 

"Another from South Carolina seemed very happy, and sung 
with great delight, * Happy day, when Jesus washed my sins 

away.' Young B , of Virginia, was resigned and even 

rejoiced at the near prospect of death. He repeated the line, 
' How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord.' His end was 
peace. 

" One of these young men had determined to enter the 
Christian ministry." 

The scene described by Rev. Mr. Crumley, as he distributed 
among the soldiers, after one of the Maryland campaigns, the 
supplies sent forward by the Georgia Relief Association, one of 
the noblest institutions of the war, is truthful and touching: 

"After leaving Warrenton, I visited the wounded in private 
houses around the battle-field, where I very narrowly escaped 
being taken prisoner by the Yankees. In Winchester I found 
thousands of the wounded from Maryland crowded into churches, 
hotels, private houses and tents, in every imaginable state of 
suffering and destitution. Though kind words and prayers are 
good and cheering to the suffering, they could not relieve the 
terrible destitution. At length my anxious suspense was relieved 
by the coming of Mr. Selkirk, Dr. Camak and Rev. Mr. Potter, 
bringing supplies from the Georgia Relief and Hospital Associa- 
tion, which were in advance of anything from the Government. 
Their coming was clothing to the naked, medicine to the sick, 
and life to the dying. Could that little girl have been with us as 
we distributed the gifts of the association, and have seen the 
pleasure with which the heroic youth, who had made the Mar}^- 
land campaign barefooted, drew on his rough and bruised feet 
the soft socks which she knit, no doubt she would knit another 
pair. Could that young lady have seen the grateful expression 
upon the face of that noble warrior, as, with lips parched with 
fever, he sipped the wine or tasted the pickles her hand had 
prepared, whispering, * God bless the ladies of Georgia ; ' or that 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 201 

other, as he exchanged his soiled and blood-stained garments 
for those sent by the association, ejaculating, ' Yes, we will suffer, 
and die, if need be, in defence of such noble women' — fresh vigor 
would have been added to her zeal in providing comforts for our 
suffering * braves.' How much more comfortable and sweet 
would have been the slumber of that mother could she have seen 
her * patriot boy,' who had lain upon the bare ground, warmly 
wrapped in the coverlet or carpet-blanket she had sent for the 
suffering soldiers. 

"After the battle of Sharpsburg we passed over a line of rail- 
road in Central Georgia. The disabled soldiers from General 
Lee's army were returning to their homes. At every station 
the wives and daughters of the farmers came on the cars and 
distributed food and wine and bandages among the sick and 
wounded. We shall never forget how very like an angel was a 
little girl ; how blushingly and modestly she went to a great, 
rude, bearded soldier, who had carved a crutch from a rough 
plank to replace a lost leg ; how this little girl asked him if he 
was hungry, and how he ate like a famished wolf She asked if 
his wound was painful, and. in a voice of soft, mellow accents, 
' Can I do more for you ? I am sorry that you are so badly 
hurt. Have you a little daughter, and wont she cry when she 
sees you ? ' The rude soldier's heart was touched, and tears of 
love and gratitude filled his eyes. He only answered, ' I have 
three little children. God grant they may be such angels as 
you.' With an evident effort he repressed a desire to kiss the 
fair brow of the little girl. He took her little hand between his 
own and bade her * Good-bye, God bless you.' The child will 
always be a better woman because of these lessons of practical 
charity stamped ineffaceably upon her young heart." 

"As we were on our way to Manassas on the 19th of July, 
1 861," said an officer of the Virginia troops, " on a crowded 
train of flats, the people along the route of the Manassas Gap 
Railroad turned out in large bodies, bringing baskets full of 
provisions and luxuries for the soldiers. Everybody was full of 
joy, and we rushed on to battle with railroad speed amid the 
waving of handkerchiefs and the loud huzzahs of a loyal people — 
little thinking that many of the hearts that beat high for praise 
would * soon feel that pulse no more.' Not far from one of the 
depots, which we had just left in great glee, on an eminence by 
the road, there stood a lady of more than womanly stature, but 



202 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

of womanly face, with hands uplifted and eyes upturned to 
heaven in reverential prayer for us and our country. And there 
she stood with outstretched arms until the train carried us out 
of sight. I thought of Miriam the prophetess — only the hands 
of one were lifted in praise, of the other in prayer to God. I 
never shall forget that scene and the deep impression it made 
upon all. The shout of reckless joy was turned into serious 
thought, and blessed, I believe, was the influence of that sight on 
many a brave heart." 

A correspondent writes : 

" Lynchburg, June 19, 1862. 

" The last fortnight, during which I have been visiting among 
the sick and wounded in this place and Liberty, has been spent 
most agreeably, and I trust most profitably. It is indeed a 
grateful task to labor for the spiritual and physical good of our 
brave soldiers who are suffering in the defence of our country — 
to smooth their pillows, fan their fevered brows and, while thus 
promoting their bodily comfort, to speak with them of Him who 
alone can give peace to the soul. The thoughts of the sick are 
naturally turned to religion, under any circumstances, but a 
soldier in a hospital, away from home, surrounded by many sick, 
and seeing men die daily around him, is peculiarly susceptible 
of good impressions. At least such I have found to be the case. 
I have never had a proffered tract refused, or an inquiry or 
remark on the subject of religion ungraciously received. On the 
contrary, great interest was universally manifested in the theme 
of which I spoke, and in many instances I was invited to * come 
again.' Especially by professors of religion was I welcomed. 
They did not stop to ask me to what denomination I belonged, 
but they hailed me as one who loved the same Saviour as them- 
selves, and therefore, a friend and brother. More than once these 
have taken from beneath their pillows copies of God's word, 
given them by our colporters, and spoken of them as their 'best 
friend and only true counsellor.' Li view of all that I have seen, 
it seems to me, that with the thousands of pale and emaciated 
forms in the hospitals, with the tens of thousands of sin-sick 
souls in our camps, a vast responsibility is resting upon the 
Christians of our State and country. If a surgeon should be 
filled with remorse to see his patient die for want of attention 
from himself, how should each Christian, who has not done all 
he could, feel at each announcement of a soldier's d^ath ? And 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 203 

with what pangs of remorse must he behold each mound in the 
soldiers' graveyard." 

** Richmond, July 22, 1862. 

" Having spent some time recently in visiting the largest 
hospitals in several of the States and seen and heard much of 
the soldiers, I have a pretty good opportunity of ascertaining 
something of the religious status of the army. It is^ beyond 
doubt, true that many have had their morals ruined by the se- 
ductive temptations of the camp. But it is equally true that 
others have been benefited spiritually, and in many cases savingly 
converted ! The solemn stillness, the suffering of body and spirit, 
the absence of loved ones and the pleasures of home are well 
calculated to win the soul to a contemplation of the * rest ' 
which ' remaineth.' Said a soldier to me as we were journey- 
ing together : ' But for this book (the Bible) I should long since 
have gone beside myself When I think of my poor little 
motherless children far away, sadness and sorrow fill my heart, 
and in despair I am ready to sink ; but at such times I always 
betake myself to the reading of God's word, and it has never 
failed to comfort, sustain and even to fill me with joy. But for 
this, to-day, sir, I would be a raving maniac' 

" While going south on the cars with the sick and wounded, I 
noticed that quite a number would take from their pocket tracts 
which I had given them, weeks and months before, and with 
much interest read them again. On taking from my pocket a 
few packages of tracts, one and another would inquire, ' Have 
you tracts to dispose of? ' Then came a captain with $2 and 
said, * Give me the worth of this in tracts for my men.' An- 
other soldier said, ' I want to help on this work ; will you accept 
this? ' handing ^i. After while an elderly gentleman handed a 
$i) bill, saying that he 'was delighted to see how eagerly the 
soldiers had read what was given them.' A soldier took from 
his pocket several tracts ti^d up in a roll — said he had read them 
repeatedly and hoped often to peruse them in days to come. 
They had been sent to him through the mail by his wife, to 
whom they were given by a colporter. 

** Since he had been in the army his wife had sickened and 
died, and this was one of the last gifts she had sent him. The 
above illustrates, though but feebly, how vast and inviting is the 
field now appealing for our sympathy and toil. Untold good 
may be effected by means so simple, that in the eyes of many 



204 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

they seem as foolishness. The look of love, the tear of sympathy, 
the word of entreaty, the printed page of Gospel truth, are now, 
as much as ever before, the * power and wisdom of God/ and 
are mighty for pulling down the strongholds of wickedness. 

" A. E. D." 

A young soldier, while dying very happily, sung the follow- 
ing stanza : 

"Great Jehovah, we adore Thee, 
God the Father, God the Son, 
God the Spirit, joined in glory 
On the same eternal throne ; 

Endless praises 
To Jehovah, three in one." 

The chaplain then asked him if he had any message to send to 
his friends. " Yes, " said he. ** Tell my father I have tried to 
eat my meals with thanksgiving." " Tell him that I have tried 
to pray as we used to do at home." " Tell him that Christ is 
now all my hope, all my trust, and that He is precious to my 
soul." " Tell him. that I believe Christ will take me to Himself, 
and to my dear sister, who is in heaven." The voice of the 
dying boy faltered in the intervals between these precious sen- 
tences. When the hymn, commencing, '* Nearer, my God, to 
Thee," was read to him, at the end of each stanza he exclaimed, 
with striking energy, " O Lord Jesus, thou art coming nearer to 
me!' Also, at the end of each stanza of the hymn commencing — 

"Just as I am — without one plea, 

But that Thy blood was shed for me," 

he exclaimed — ''I come! Lamb of God, I come!'' Speaking 
again of his friends, he said, *'Tell my father that I died Jtappy!' 
His last words were, " Father, Fm coming to Thee ! " Then the 
Christian soldier sweetly and calmly fell ''asleep in Jesus." 

This was witnessed by about twenty fellow-soldiers and the 
effect upon the feelings of all was very marked. Said a Roman 
Catholic, who lay near the dying one, with tears in his eyes, 
and strong emotion, " I never want to die happier than that man 
did." Said another, " I never prayed until last night ; but when 
I saw that man die so happy, 1 determined to seek religion too." 

A colporter writes from " Seabrooks " hospital, Richmond, 
to Rev. N. B. Cobb, North Carolina : " We had a very interest- 
ing young man in our hospital, who made a profession of faith 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 205 

after he entered the army. He told me that soon after he enhsted 
in the army he began to study about the horrors of war, and 
was led to feel his need of a Saviour, and felt under deep con- 
viction. There were in his company three pious, praying men. 
He requested them to accompany him to the woods every day 
to pray for him, which they did. They had some very happy 
meetings, at one of which he found Jesus precious to his soul. 
I think he is the most devoted young man I ever saw. He is 
badly wounded, but spends every day in prayer and praise to 
God for the great mercy shown him." 

W. R. Gualtney writes from Richmond to the Biblical 
Recorder : " The Lord is with us at the ' Seabrooks ' hospital. 
We have a great revival of religion here. A greater one I 
scarcely ever witnessed. Rarely a day passes but I find one or 
more new converts. The number in our hospital is being 
rapidly reduced, many being transferred to other places, and 
many having died. But the religious element in our midst is 
by no means dying out. A large number are yet inquiring, 
' What must we do to be saved ? ' Those who have professed a 
hope in Christ seem to be in the full enjoyment of faith." 

The Petersburg Express says : " We are gratified to learn that 
the state of religious feeling at the hospitals in this city is very 
encouraging. Within the last three and a half months there have 
been eighty conversions, and a large number manifest interest in 
the subject of religion. The chaplains (Rev. Messrs. Young and 
Hardwick) acknowledge that they have received valuable assist- 
ance from the colporters. Tracts have been extensively distribu- 
ted, and are highly valued by the soldiers. If we can make good 
Christians of our fighting men, our armies will be invincible 
against all the hosts that can be brought against them." 

A correspondent of the Religious Herald writes : " Not long 
since it was my privilege to stand by the bedside of one of the 
heroes who are daily offering themselves as sacrifices upon the 
altar of their country. He was an officer of the gallant Fifty-sixth 
Virginia, with which he had been at Donelson, had borne his 
part in the hardships and glories of that memorable place, had 
been in the battles around Richmond, had been wounded in the 
battle of Sharpsburg, and now had come home — to die. As I 
entered his room he raised his emaciated hand and kindly 
welcomed me ; spoke to me of his sufferings, and conversed 



206 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

with so much cheerfulness that I could not help expressing the 
hope that he might yet weather the storm. * I was particularly 
struck with his eye. There was a brightness and fire about it I 
had never noticed before ; but its lustre was of heaven, not of 
earth ; it was soon to close on earthly things, and to gaze on the 
* King in His beauty.' He told me he had no fear of death, 
his trust had been firmly fixed on Christ for seventeen years, and 
for him the last enemy had no terrors. He requested me to 
read the Fifty-first Psalm, and pray with him. 

" Jesus, who has said, * Where two or three are gathered to- 
gether in my name, there am I in the midst of them,' fulfilled 
His promise, for as I rose from my knees and wiped away the 
blinding tears from my eyes, my full heart said, ' Surely this is 
none other than the house of God and the very gate of heaven.' 

" This interview has taught me a lesson of humility which I 
shall not soon forget; for as I gazed upon the thin, emaciated 
form, confined to one position, the humble soldier's cot on which 
he lay, I thought, * Jesus, the King of kings, dwells here, and I 
had rather be this poor soldier than to be the tenant of a palace.* 
I bade him * good-bye,' and promised to call soon and see him 
again, but death came sooner than I expected, for when I heard 
from him again he had fallen asleep in Jesus ; earth bore another 
grave, but heaven had won a sweeter strain of praise to Him who 
doeth all things well. " Oh, blessed Jesus ! Oh, thou divine Re- 
deemer! when we see our friends treading the verge of Jordan, 
free from fear because Thou art with them, -we would raise our 
hearts and our voices in adoration, and praise, and thankfulness 
to Thee, 

" * Who captive leads captivity 
And takes the sting from death.' 

"Tyree Glenn." 

Rev. C. F. Fry writes, from Staunton, Virginia : " While I was 
preaching at the hospital a young man, confined to his bed, wept 
most bitterly. After the service was over he said to me, * I have 
been thinking a great deal about my condition, but never, until 
now, could get the consent of my mind to trust the Saviour. 
God being my helper, I shall never cease looking unto Jesus for 
life, joy, and peace.' " 

"Brother Editors : I should have written of our hospitals before 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 207 

this, but have been twice anticipated by 'A. E. D.' Besides, I 
have been deterred, observing the tendency to put these subjects 
in a rose-colored Hght. But, on the other hand, it is but proper 
for me to contribute my mite of experience, as I have certainly 
derived benefit from the letters of others. For instance, I had 
not made any attempt to stop the card-playing among the con- 
valescents until I read what a brother chaplain had done. His 
success emboldened me. So, one day, approaching a group who 
were busily * throwing the spotted leaf,' but who desisted when 
they saw me, I did not content myself with proposing to give 
them some of my cards, but urged them to give up theirs. ' We 
mean no harm, sir,' said a bright youth — ' we do not play for 
money, only for pastime. It is dull here.' * Yes,' I replied, ' it 
must be dull, and I do not wonder you wish some recreation ; 
but then you have books and papers in abundance, and I would 
not resort to cards.' ' I do not think it is wrong, sir.' * The 
mere act of throwing cards may not be, but it is connected 
closely with gambling. Besides, it does seem an inappropriate 
employment in a room filled with sick and dying men, and for 
those who have just been raised up from death's door. But I 
will give you a simple argument. Have you a mother?' *I 
have.' * Do you think she would be willing for you to play 
cards, even for fun ? ' 'I know she would not.' * Well, at what 
age is a man justifiable in violating his mother's wishes? ' The 
cards were thrown aside — I hope, permanently. The group 
scattered, and the youth who had been the principal speaker 
followed me, and sat by my side while I read and prayed with a 
dying Christian. Possibly this piece may strike the eye of some 
card-playing soldier. To such an one, I put the question, * Would 
your mother approve of it ? ' 

** Encouraged by this success, I made a similar attempt in one 
other hospital, with like results ; and subsequently coming into 
the same room, I asked an elderly, one-legged soldier what had 
become of the cards ? He replied, ' I have not seen them since 
you talked to the boys the other day.' I feel the m'ore free to 
speak against cards because we have large and well-selected 
libraries of both religious and secular volumes, and because I am 
constantly distributing papers in abundance, I have also lately 
queried within myself whether we ought not to supply our con- 
valescent soldiers with other innocent means of recreation. There 
are thousands in our hospitals, not able to go to camp, who are 



208 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; ' 

well enough to find confinement very wearisome. Some of them 
are readers. Those who are can't read all the time. I have 
thought of instituting clubs — of introducing a draught-board, 
grace-hoops, etc. To some, this would seem very queer work 
for a chaplain ; but I am sure these things would help to make 
the hospital a pleasant home, and I know that in a late convales- 
cence, on the rainy days, I did not despise such ministrations. 
Tell me if you think I am wrong. This is certain, that I find 
frequent religious meetings very acceptable to the men — accept- 
able, if for no other reason, because such services break in upon 
the monotony of their lives. I have lately, in connection with 
Brother Walton, held several extra meetings, and I never in my 
life saw more earnest attention. These meetings are held in a 
large room, partly filled with patients. To them especially are 
the services acceptable. As we ask one and another, * Will the 
service disturb you ? ' the reply is, ' If it did, I would wish to have 
it.' Very solemn is a meeting in such a place, where the preaching 
is sometimes not interrupted, so much as rendered more impres- 
sive, by the cough or hollow groan of a sufferer. I think if the 
minister who was so severe on colporters and chaplains, could 
have seen the convalescents gathering, the cripples hobbling in, 
one dear little North Carolina boy, who lost both legs at Sharps- 
burg, brought in and placed in the broad window-sill on cushions 
— could have seen how happy some Christians looked, and how 
solemn some sinners appeared, he would have altered his mind 
and concluded, perhaps we were doing some good after all. 
Many bedside visits, many sermons, tracts, and papers may fail 
to do good in the army. But is not this true of our work in the 
pastorate ? Is it not true of the expenditure of ammunition in a 
battle ? Ordinarily, a man's weight in lead is expended for every 
one that is killed. I have not told the half that I designed when 
I began, but thinking only short pieces appropriate for the 
Herald, in its present limited dimensions, I close. 

" Yours truly, 

" Geo. B. Taylor. 
" Staunton, February 24, 1863." 

" Huguenot Springs Hospital, June 8th. 
^^ Messrs. Editors: On the third Sabbath in May we commenced 
a series of meetings at this hospital, which continued till the first 
Sabbath of June. The Lord's blessing rested upon the meeting, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 209 

from twenty-five to thirty making a public profession of faith in 
Christ. Fifteen have been baptized, and others are awaiting the 
ordinance. ... ^ 

" G. W. Hyde, Chaplain of the Post." 

" Last week, while in Lynchburg, I had the pleasure of seeing 
from fifteen to twenty soldiers present themselves for prayer and 
religious instruction. Rev. Jno. L. Johnson had just baptized 
eight. Brother Johnson has succeeded in establishing a soldiers* 
library, by means of which papers, religious and secular, maga- 
zines and books are placed in the hands of every soldier who 
desires reading matter. We have two efficient colporters in 
Lynchburg, Elders G. C. Trevillian and C. A. Miles. The latter 
was severely wounded at the battle of Seven Pines. One of these 
brethren is in the library-room certain hours of each day, lending 
out books, etc., to those who come for them. During the mo- 
ments I was in the depository, many came to return books which 
they had read and to secure others. Some came for papers. 
One would say, ' I am from Alabama, and want an Alabama 
paper,' and he would be presented with the South-ivest Baptist. 
Another would say, * Can't you let me have the Christian Index? 
That's the paper I read at home.' Others would desire the Con- 
federate Baptist, others the Herald, etc. You may judge of the 
desire for religious papers, when I assure you that hundreds of 
applicants daily supply themselves at this depository. When a 
sick man walks as far as from the hospital to this reading-room 
to solicit a paper, we may be assured that he will make a good 
use of it, reading and pondering almost every word. 

" I also spent a Sabbath in Charlottesville and, with Dr. W. F. 
Broaddus, attended services at the hospital, where a large and 
attentive congregation listened to a sermon from the text, * Come 
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest.' Many an eye was moistened as the preacher urged 
the acceptance of the blessed invitation. Dr. Broaddus is doing 
a grand work among the sick and wounded at this point. I was 
astonished to see how many soldiers he was acquainted with, 
knowing their names, where they came from, etc. The greater 
part of his time is spent among them. I feel assured that the 
Church will, as far as possible, release Brother Broaddus from 
pastoral visits, as he can be so much more useful in the hospitals, 
14 



210 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

It will be gratifying to them to know that their loss in this matter 
is the gain of those to whom, under God, they owe everything — 
men who are far from home and friends, sad and afflicted, and 
many of them nigh unto death. Who would not give up every- 
thing for the comfort and salvation of a poor wounded soldier as 
he pines upon his cot, away from the fond endearments of home ? 
Rev. J. C. Hiden is laboring efficiently here as chaplain. Gor- 
donsville now affords a fine field for doing good. Besides the 
hospitals, the encampments in this vicinity contain many who 
have both the time and the desire to attend religious services. I 
am informed that within a few weeks over thirty soldiers here 
have made a profession of religion. Rev. D. B. Ewing, of the 
Presbyterian Church, is the post chaplain. He is eminently 
adapted to such labors, and finds much encouragement in the 
work. Brother Ewing, assisted by several of the chaplains, is 
now holding a protracted meeting." — A. E. D. 

"July 2, 1863. 
" We have now a noble band of laborers in the hospitals, min- 
istering to the spiritual wants of our suffering soldiers. In 
Richmond, we have Elders R. Ryland, D. Shaver, B. Philips, 
J. W. Williams, and others ; at Petersburg, Elder Thos. Hume, 
Sr.; at Charlottesville, Elder W. F. Broaddus ; at Lynchburg, 
Elders G. C. Trevillian and C. A. Miles ; at Liberty, Elder Jas. 
A. Davis ; at Scottsville, J. C. Clopton ; at Culpeper Court 
House, Elder J. N. Fox ; at the hospitals in the upper part of 
the Valley, Elders A. M. Grimsley and H. Madison ; at Emory, 
Henry College, and other hospitals on the Virginia and Tennessee 
Railroad, Elders R. Lewis, J. D. Chambers, and W. Buckels ; and 
at Danville we have Elder Jno. C. Long. Besides, many of the 
chaplains at these several points are likewise acting as our agents, 
and receiving their supplies from our depositories. What vast 
good will be effected by these men of God, if the Holy Ghost 
deigns to attend the message which they, almost every hour, are 
delivering to some soul heavy-laden with a sense of its sins and 
sorrows. ... 

"A. E. D." 

Says an exchange: "A friend in Danville told us that, out 
of 2,000 letters he had opened, from friends of deceased soldiers, 
not more than a dozen were found that did not contain religious 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 211 

advice." Perhaps some of the writers never gave reHgious ad- 
vice until those to whom they wrote were in the grave. . . . 

" Charlottesville, July 25. 
" The interest of our soldiers in the hospitals here, in the great 
things of eternity, is exceedingly encouraging. Several have 
professed conversion, while many others are evidently asking, 
'What must I do to be saved?' Brother Hiden, chaplain of 
the Delavan, at this post, is preaching with me, in a series of 
meetings, in the Charlottesville church, and crowds of the con- 
valescent attend, while those who are still confined to their sick 
beds are, in many instances, eager to have preaching in their 
wards. What a luxury, to press the cup of salvation to one who 
is physically unable to inquire for it by going to the Lord's 
house ! 

"W. F. Broaddus." 

"At the protracted meeting at the First Church, Richmond, 
seventeen soldiers professed conversion. A number professed 
at a similar meeting held in the hospital, and several are obtain- 
ing the good hope at a meedng now in progress at the Second 
Baptist Church. There havW^een fully seventy-five conversions 
since the first of last October. Quite a number of soldiers are 
being taught to read. Some commence with the alphabet. One 
man fifty years old commenced with his letters, and now reads. 
The chaplains are doing a good work here." 

" Richmond College, March 19. 
" On the 14th instant I finished my second month of colpor- 
tage work in the hospitals. I could fill a large sheet with in- 
teresting details, but they would only be repetitions of what 
you constantly receive from those in your employment. Suffice 
it to say, that I have conversed with, addressed and prayed for, 
many hundreds of invalid soldiers during the month, and given 
to each a tract or a New Testament, and have received from all 
great respect, and from many the most tender expressions of 
gratitude. I have found about forty-five men who could not 
read. To these I have given some such books as ' McGuffey's 
First Reader,' after demanding and obtaining the promise from 
the recipients that they would try to learn^ and requesting their 
comrades to teach them. I have also distributed a small num- 



212 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

ber of French and German Testaments to such as could read 
only these languages. These books and the elementary readers 
have been purchased by funds solicited of a few generous per- 
sons, amounting to $2J , and not yet exhausted. The editors of 
the Religious Herald have given me some two hundred papers 
for distribution, all which have been eagerly sought by the sol- 
diers. The editors of the two Presbyterian papers have given 
me each a bundle, and I shall call on the Methodist paper soon 
for a similar favor. I have also received and disbursed Sunday 
pamphlets, magazines and books of a miscellaneous character. 
In fine, the work is full of encouragement, and worthy of far 
more piety, learning and talents than I possess. 

" R. Ryland." 

Rev. J. C. Hiden, post chaplain, writes to us from Char- 
lottesville : " In a stay of nearly a month, I have not heard 
three oaths, nor seen but one man under the influence of intoxi- 
cating liquor. We have preaching or prayer-meeting almost 
every day, and the attendance is large, and there is evidently 
considerable interest among the men. Many of them want Tes- 
taments and hymn-books, and ea|^dy seek after them, and all 
seem approachable on the subjec^^M^eligion." 

The Richmond Dispatch, of April ii, states that a revival of 
religion has been in progress, at Camp Winder, near this city, 
for about two weeks. At that date twenty soldiers had pro- 
fessed conversion and many others had asked an interest in the 
prayers of their pious comrades. 

Brother J. C. Clopton furnishes the following in reference to 
the Rockbridge Hospitals: 

"As I go along among the hospitals my heart is pained at 
seeing so much to be done and so few laborers. Sometimes I 
see several physicians going around together to consult about 
the physical man — to see if the body can be saved from the 
power of disease, while scarcely any one seems to be concerned 
about the disease of sin or the death which never dies. Every hos- 
pital ought to have at least one colporter. A poor, sick soldier, 
fifty-four years of age, was deeply affected by my visit to his couch 
and exclaimed, * Thank God, a minister has come to pray with me! 
Oh, I assure you, that to go to these sick men and to read to 
them the promises of the Gospel, and to invoke upon them the 
blessing of God, is the next thing to a visit of an angel. It re- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 213 

lieves them from the sad gloom of the sick-room, and sends 
sunshine into their sorrowing hearts — the sunshine of heaven." 

Rev. J. G. Skinner, Manassas : " I have met with very great 
success during the past month. There is a great demand for 
reading matter among the soldiers. If you have any tracts, do 
send them, for I assure you that there never was a time nor a 
place where such things were more needed than here. I have 
been preaching and holding prayer-meetings whenever an op- 
portunity presented itself" 

~ Rev. J. B. Taylor, Jr., Winchester : " This morning I went 
through one hospital to the couch of every man. They thank- 
fully received my tracts and words of sympathy and advice ; 
some calling out to me, before I reached them, to bring them a 
tract." 

Rev. H. G. Crews writes, from Winchester: "A young man 
in the hospital, upon being asked if he was a Christian, replied : 
* I have been one, but have gone astray.' I urged him to re- 
pent of his backsliding and to return unto God. He seemed 
deeply moved, and, with moistened eyes, asked that I would 
visit him again. All the sick seem comforted by having re- 
ligious conversation ; many., who make no pretensions to piety 
listen with solemn attention. A lieutenant desired to be sup- 
plied with tracts, that he might distribute them among his men. 
The same request had been made by others. In the hotels and 
saloons I have distributed tracts, as well as on the streets, to the 
hundreds who come in from the camps around. Oh, it is a 
blessed work to care for the souls of our brave boys. If I could 
reach the ear of every Christian in the Confederacy I would 
cry, ' Men of Israel 1 help ! ' " 

Mr. J. C. Clopton, who has been laboring at the hospitals in 
Staunton, and at the Rockbridge Alum Springs, writes : '* Often- 
times I see the soldiers reading the tracts for days after they 
have been received, and manifesting the most eager desire to be 
benefited by them. Passing along to the hospital, I saw a group 
of convalescents, and at once I was tempted to be ashamed of 
the work, and was about to pass them without giving any 
tracts ; but it appeared to me that this might be a temptation of 
the evil one, and I determined to overlook no one. Going up to 
a soldier, I asked if he was a Christian. He was deeply moved, 
and replied, * I wish to have some conversation with you; can 
you sit down with me awhile ? * He told me that he had been 



214 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

a professor of religion ; had enjoyed the smile of God on his 
soul ; but that temptation and vice had led him astray, until now 
he was almost ready to despair. Weeping and sobbing he con- 
fessed his sin. I urged him to seek again the smile and favor 
of God. A very sick man said to me, ' Oh, sir, I would give 
worlds for an interest in salvation, and the pardon of sin.' He 
has since passed away." 

A chaplain writes from Williamsburg : " I know twelve men 
in my regiment, who have professed conversion from reading 
your tracts. One came to me with a tract in his hand, and tears 
flowing down his cheeks, and said, * I would not take thousands 
for this tract. My parents have prayed for me, and wept over 
me ; but it was left for this tract to bring me, a poor convicted 
sinner, to the feet of Jesus. Oh, sir, I feel to-day that I am a 
new man, and have set out for heaven.' " 

Another chaplain, whose regiment is near Yorktown, says : 
** For three months I have not preached a sermon. We have 
no preaching place, and I do not know when we shall have one. 
The most that I can do is by colportage work, from camp to 
camp, distributing the pages of Divine truth. The soldiers are 
anxious for Testaments and tracts, and read them most eagerly." 

Rev. Dr. James B. Taylor writes : 

" It has been my privilege recently to spend a few days in the 
town of Winchester, visiting the camps, but more especially the 
hospitals. Until the sick and stores were removed, with refer- 
ence to an evacuation of the place, three or four of us were 
busily engaged in spiritual labors among the soldiers. During 
my whole stay only two men refused tracts from me — one a 
Roman Catholic, and the other unable to read. As I would go 
from cot to cot, leaving a tract or a Testament and speaking of 
Jesus, it was not uncommon for some sufferer in another part of 
the room to call out; ' Bring me one.' I shall never forget my 
first visit to one of these hospitals. There, stretched out before 
me, on coarse, hard beds, lay perhaps a hundred sick soldiers, 
mostly young men, some of them the flower of the land. They 
were my brothers — far from happy homes — lonely, despairing, 
sick — some of them sick unto death. How cheering the sight 
of any friend! What an opportunity for the child of God! 
Christian reader, your Saviour * went about doing good.' He 
went where there was sickness and misery and death. This was 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 215' 

His great concern, His meat and drink. He never faltered, nor 
wearied, nor turned aside. Are you one of His ? Then here 
is work for you ; and if you cannot personally engage in it, then 
help to send others out into this field, so vast and so inviting. 
Thus shall you win souls who shall deck the diadem of your 
Redeemer — who shall be stars to glitter in your crown of re- 
joicing for ever and ever. At the union prayer-meeting (of all 
denominations) one afternoon, that gallant soldier and pious 
man. General * Stonewall ' Jackson, was present, and led in 
prayer. At the supper-table, some professing Christians, when 
told of it, expressed regret at not having been present. Had 
they known ' that General yackson was to have been there,' 
they would certainly have gone. Alas ! they forgot that a 
greater than Jackson, or any other mere man, had promised to 
meet with His people, even the Lord of life and glory. 

" It is certainly a gratifying fact that General Jackson is an 
active, humble, consistent Christian — restraining profanity and 
Sabbath-breaking — welcoming army colporters, distributing 
tracts^ and anxious to have every regiment in his army supplied 
with a chaplain. Indeed, our officers generally seem disposed 
to favor efforts for the moral and religious improvement of the 
soldiers. I am told that a general in command of an important 
post, a man notoriously cross and profane, welcomed a colporter 
to his division with words something like these : ' Sir, you have 
come, I hope, to do all the good you can.' He then invited the 
colporter to his head-quarters, to mess at his table and to share 
his blankets. 

" It is proper I should refer to the little time I have employed 
in visiting the hospitals in Culpeper and Staunton during the 
last fortnight. In accordance with your request I proceeded at 
once to Culpeper Court House, where, by the kindness of the 
gentleman who had charge of the hospital, I continued day after 
day to call upon and, as far as possible, to converse with the 
sick soldiers, numbering in all about 400. In no instance did I 
meet with repulsive treatment. Generally they received my 
approaches respectfully, and many of them conversed freely on 
their spiritual condition. At Staunton, in like manner, I found 
about 320 confined in the hospital. I was permitted without 
hindrance to visit the different wards, which I did several days 
in succession. I attended, also, two meetings in the large chapel, 
and preached once to the convalescent soldiers. In this hospital, 



216 

also, I made it my business to converse individually with most 
of those to whom I had access. To each one at Culpeper Court 
House and Staunton I gave tracts or Testaments, and in some 
instances both. These were received with special interest. In 
performing this work I found it growing in magnitude, and my 
own heart more and more interested in it. Some of the cases 
were particularly touching. One man from south-western 
Georgia, with deep feeHng, told me that out of ninety-eight com- 
posing his company twenty-four were buried in western Vir- 
ginia. I pressed upon him the claims of the Gospel, and he 
seemed thankful and penitent. Another, far from home, seemed 
near the grave. The tears flowed from his languid eyes when I 
asked him about his spiritual condition, and with trembling lips 
he replied, / No hope.' He gazed at me wistfully, as I pointed 
him to the * Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.' 
Another, a young man, was much moved, as he told of his 
desertion of the Saviour, having been thrown with evil associates 
far away from the privileges of the house of prayer. Here and 
there I found a faithful one cleaving to the Lord and maintain- 
ing with consistency his Christian character. One young man 
seemed much interested in all I said, and promised me to give 
heed to the truths I had been urging upon his attention. I was 
specially affected by the remarks of a soldier, who said : * Oh, sir, 
you know not how difficult it is to stem the tide of corruption 
in the army. Many of our officers drink and swear, and dis- 
courage all manifestations of religious feeling.' One of the sol- 
diers in Staunton, on seeing one of the pastors pass along the 
street, said : ' There is the man who gave me a Bible ; I never 
read it before, but I have now read it through several times, and 
wonder at the things it contains.' I could mention other inci- 
dents, but these will suffice. 

"Jas. B. Taylor, Sr." 

" The field of labor opened here for the accomplishment of good 
is beyond measure. An angel might covet it. True ; and we 
are not surprised that Rev. Dr. Ryland, President of Richmond 
College, should accept the position of colporter in the hospitals 
of the city tendered him by the ladies of the First Baptist Church. 
The time thus spent will not be esteemed the least honorable 
portion of his life in the last day." 

A writer in one of the papers gives the following touching de- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 217 

scriptlon of religious services in a military hospital : "At 3 
o'clock services were held in the main hall of the hospital. It 
was to me a most imposing spectacle, to witness that large 
assembly of men in all stages of sickness — some sitting upon 
their beds, while others were lying down listening to the word 
of God — many of them probably for the last time. The subject 
of the sermon was * Peace in Christ,' and a most timely and in- 
structive discourse it was. I do not think that I ever saw a more 
attentive audience. They seemed to drink in the word of life at 
every breath." 

"A series a meetings held in the First Baptist Church, Peters- 
burg, during the absence of the pastor, Rev. T. G. Keen, D. D., 
by Elders W. M. Young and T. Hume, Jr., has resulted in the 
conversion of four of the citizens and from twelve to fifteen of the 
soldiers in the hospitals of that city." 

The colporters of the Soldiers' Book and Tract Society of the 
Southern Methodist Church report favorably as to the fruit of 
their labors in the hospital. Rev. J. E. McSparran reports four 
conversions in the hospitals at Lynchburg, and many seriously 
and anxiously inquiring the way of life. Rev. J. E. Martin re- 
ports sixteen conversions in the Chimborazo Hospital, Richmond. 
He has found only twelve men who could not read, and they 
were mostly foreigners. ** One young man was very anxious to 
learn to read. I procured a spelling-book, and in a few days he 
learned so as to be able to read the Bible. He has since pro- 
fessed conversion." 

Rev. A. D. Cohen writes from the camp near Goldsboro', North 
Carolina, to the Biblical Recorder : " I have more opportunity to 
do good than at any other time of my pastoral life. Every tent 
is the habitation of a family of from six to eight men, each one 
of whom feels constrained to pay at least respectful attention to 
the kind counsel and good advice of their chaplain." 

Rev. J. H. Campbell, army evangelist, Georgia, relates the 
following incident : '* Noticing on the cars a soldier who looked 
sick and sad I offered him certain tracts which I hoped might 
suit his case. This led to a conversation, from which I learned 
that he had been dangerously ill in camp for many weeks, during 
which he had received intelligence of the death of his wife, who, 
he said, was* one of the best women,' and that he was returning, 
^broken in health, to his three little motherless children. But 
for the comforts of religion he thinks he would have lost his 



21S 

mind ; his fellow-soldiers came frequently into his tent, and read 
the Scriptures and sang and prayed with him. * One text,' said 
he, * was in my mind day and night, awake and asleep : ''TJiough 
He slay me, yet will I trust in Him!'' I concluded the poor 
fellow knew more about religion than myself, and felt comforted 
while trying to comfort him." 

Rev. Mr. Hume writes: 

" Petersburg. 

" I have been for some weeks devoting my time to the hos- 
pitals in the city, and find myself becoming more and more 
absorbed in the work. The noble men are so fond of having 
one to talk with them about Jesus, that my heart is made to re- 
joice with theirs. The other day I was reading a few tracts to 
a sick soldier, and while reading one on the * Blood of Christ ' he 
became so enthused that he shouted aloud, 'Glory to God! ' and 
it was some time before he could be quieted. Another said to 
me : * When I first came into the hospital I was sad and dis- 
satisfied, but since I have been here I have learned of Jesus, and 
thank God even for tribulations.' There is great need of Testa- 
ments, as many are destitute of them. . . . 

''A. E. Dickinson." 

Rev. Joseph E. Martin, from Chimborazo Hospital at Rich- 
mond, writes : *' We have had lately sixteen conversions. One 
young man was very anxious to learn to read. I procured him 
a spelling-book, and in a few days he learned so rapidly as to be 
able to read the Testament. He has since professed religion. A 
middle-aged man from Georgia has learned to read since he 
joined the army, and has committed to memory almost all the 
New Testament, with the book of Job." 

Rev. George Pearcy, writing from Lynchburg, Virginia, says : 
" I collected from Sunday-schools and individuals above a hun- 
dred Testaments, a few Bibles, and some books and tracts — these 
were placed in three large hospitals for the sick soldiers. There 
have been as many as io,000 soldiers in the encampment here, 
hence it is a most interesting field for usefulness. Many soldiers 
have the Bible or Testament, and love to read it. A good num- 
ber are members of Churches. Far away from home and 
kindred, they are delighted to receive the visits of brother 
Christians, and get something to read. All receive the tracts, 
and read them with delight. The Lord has blessed the work. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 219 

He has poured out His Spirit upon many. Several have died in 
the triumphs of faith. It was a great pleasure and privilege to 
speak to them of the Saviour, and witness their trust in Him 
during the trying hour. One who died a week ago said, in a 
whisper, a short time before he breathed his last, when the nurse 
held up the tract, ' Come to Jesus,' * I can't see.' He was told it 
was the tract, * Come to Jesus,' and that Jesus says, * Him that 
Cometh unto me I will in nowise cast out.' ' Thank the Lord 
for that,' he replied. * Have you come to Him ? and do you find 
Him precious ? ' * Precious, thank the Lord.' ' He has promised 
never to leave nor forsake His people.' * Thank the Lord for 
that;' and so he would say of all the promises quoted. One 
young man, to whom I gave a tract, told me that at home he 
was a steady, sober man; never swore ; but that becoming a sol- 
dier he did as many others did — threw off restraint, and did 
wickedly. * But now,' said he, * I have done swearing, and will 
seek the salvation of my soul.' " 

" When I joined the army," said a soldier to a colporter, " I 
was a member of the Church, and enjoyed religion, but since I 
came into camp I have been without anything of a religious 
character to read, and assailed on every side by such temptations 
as have caused me to dishonor my religious profession. Oh, sir, 
if you had been with me, and extended such aid as you now 
bestow, I might have been kept from all the sin and sorrow 
which, as a poor backslider, I have known." 

One who had visited the hospitals at Richmond wrote : '* The 
field of labor opened here for the accomplishment of good is be- 
yond measure. An angel might covet it. At 3 o'clock services 
were held in the main hall of the hospital. It was a most impos- 
ing spectacle to see men in all stages of sickness — some sitting 
upon their beds listening to the word of God — many of them 
probably for the last time. I do not think I ever saw a more 
attentive audience. They seemed to drink in the word of life 
at every breath." 

" Some time since," says Rev. A. E. Dickinson, " it was my 
pleasure to stand up in the presence of a large company of con- 
valescent soldiers in one of our hospitals to proclaim salvation. 
During the reading of a portion of Scripture tears began to flow. 
I then announced that dear old hymn — 

" * There is a fountain filled with blood, 
Drawn from Immanuel's veins,' etc., 



220 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

the reading of which seemed to melt every heart, and the entire 
audience was in tears before God. Every word in reference to 
spiritual truth fell with a soft, subduing fervor on their chastened 
hearts." 

Rev. J. T. Carpenter, post chaplain at Castle Thunder, Rich- 
mond, in a letter to the Army and Navy Messenger, reports 131 
professions of conversion among our soldiers in confinement 
there. 

" Charlottesville, Virginia. 

"Brother Clopton seemed very much interested for Imboden's 
men, and if he received your approval has, perhaps, started in 
that direction. 

" There is much interest in the hospitals here. My last visit 
was one of the most delightful hours of my life. It is such a 
precious privilege to point the deeply anxious soldiers, languish- 
ing in the hospitals, to the blessed Jesus — even in the imperfect 
way that I can do it. I did not find a man who did not seem 
very grateful for the privilege of conversing on the subject of 
personal religion. How brightly and beautifully the impressions 
made on youthful hearts by pious parents come out amid the 
darkness of trouble and suffering in the hospital ! God be praised 
for these sanctifying influences on the heart of the soldier! One 
noble soldier said to me : ' Thank God for the tract you gave me. 
It was blest to my conversion. I may die from this wound (he 
was shot through the breast), but I feel that Jesus is my trust. I 
fear not to die.' 

"A. P. Abell." 

A lady, living at the North, writes to a Southern friend, after 
visiting the hospital for Confederate prisoners on David's island : 
" Oh ! I felt proud as a queen to see how beautifully they behave" 
— grave, thoughtful, dignified, uncomplaining, cheerful, grateful 
for kindness, courteous — gentlemen to the backbone. They re- 
ceived me with as much ease (flat on their backs, in shirt and 
drawers, bunked up all kinds of ways) as if they had been doing 
the hospitality in their far-off homes. Every man had his Bible, 
and I heard from one of the carpenters, who rowed us over to 
the island, that a profane word was never heard from them." 

Brother Luther Broaddus writes from Charlottesville : " In 
compliance with your request I have put myself under the direc- 
tion of my cousin, Dr. W. F. Broaddus, and have been doing 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 221 

what I could in the way of tract distribution, etc. I find it a 
very pleasant work, indeed; the soldiers all seem anxious to 
secure reading matter, and some are concerned about their 
souls." 

This noble young man was then just beginning that career of 
usefulness in which he walked so worthily in the footsteps of 
illustrious sires, and made himself a warm place in the hearts 
of his brethren and a prospect for still larger success, which his 
recent death has cut off. 

" Huguenot Springs, August loth. 
" I am glad to announce that the Lord has been good to us at 
this post. For some time past deep seriousness has pervaded 
the minds of the masses .of the soldiers congregated here. Pro- 
found attention has been given to the preached word, and your 
unworthy brother has never been more encouraged in * holding 
forth the word of life.' Brother H. Hatcher recently aided in a 
series of meetings, and, as the result, the writer baptized sixteen 
noble soldiers, who henceforth purpose to be soldiers of the Cross 
and followers of the Lamb. I am happy to say that at least one 
of these noble young men, a Virginian, has solemnly determined, 
should God spare his life through this war, to give himself to 
God in the ministry. And may we not expect many recruits to 
the ministry from the ranks of our Christian army after the close 
of this war ? As for myself, I have high expectations from this 
quarter. Let Christians at home continue in supplication for the 
Divine blessing to rest upon our army, and upon Christ's ambas- 
sadors who preach to them the glorious Gospel. 

" Geo. W. Hyde, Post Chaplain." 

" Charlottesville Hospital. 
^^ Dear Brother Dickinsori : The number of sick and wounded 
soldiers has somewhat increased of late at the hospitals here ; 
not, as I suppose, on account of a general increase of sickness in 
our armies, but on account of the location of Charlottesville in 
relation to the present movement of our forces. I am more and 
more impressed with the importance of furnishing our soldiers in 
the hospitals with our religious newspapers. I could distribute 
profitably ten times the number I receive. Every State in the 
Confederacy is represented here. Why cannot every State, not 
cut off from us by the enemy, furnish papers for this hospital ? 



222 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

The Biblical Recorder and Confederate Baptist, once sent here, 
have ceased to come. Why is this ? The Christian Index, Relig- 
ious Herald and Southern Baptist come with tolerable regularity ; 
but never in sufficient numbers to supply the demand. Every 
Georgian wants the Index — and so of other soldiers ; each wants 
to see a paper from his own dear State. There are some signs 
of religious awakening among the soldiers here. A few are de- 
cidedly interested, and I am not without hope that we are about 
to be favored with an ingathering of souls to the Lord. Let our 
soldiers be remembered in all the prayers of the disciples of 
Jesus. May thousands of them soon become soldiers of the 
Cross ! 

" Yours truly, 

" W. F. Broaddus." 

I might multiply at great length incidents illustrating the 
great value of this colportage work, but I must now content my- 
self with adding only the following : 

A father sent to his son in the army the tract, "Are you 
Ready?" and was soon after rejoiced by the reply: ** Yes, sir! 
I can now say that / am ready. The tract you sent awakened 
me. I have gone to Jesus for salvation, and am prepared now 
for whatever may await me." 

A mother sent her son Dr. J. A. Broadus's tract — " We are 
Praying for You at Home" — and added the simple words: 
** Yes! we are praying for you, Charley, that you may become a 
Christian." That boy saw no peace until he found Christ and 
experienced sweet " peace in believing." A soldier once asked 
me for a copy of the tract, " You Must Labor for Salvation," 
saying that it had been blessed to his own conversion — that he 
had given it to a comrade, and he, too, had been converted — 
and that he now wanted to distribute all of the copies he could 
get. 



CHAPTER VII. 

WORK OF THE CHAPLAINS AND MISSIONARIES. 

UNQUESTIONABLY one of the most potent factors in the 
grand success of our work was the union of hearts and 
hands on the part of chaplains and missionaries, and indeed of 
all Christian workers of the evangelical denominations. 

The gifted and lamented Dr. Wm. J. Hoge thus wrote of a 
visit he made to Fredericksburg in the spring of 1863, during 
the great revival in Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade : ** The Rev. 
Dr. Burrows, of the First Baptist Church, Richmond, was to 
have preached that night, but as he would remain some days 
and I could only stay a day, he courteously insisted on my 
preaching. And so we had a Presbyterian sermon, introduced 
by Baptist services, under the direction of a Methodist chaplain, 
in an Episcopal church. Was not that a beautiful solution of 
the vexed problem of Christian union ? " 

This was but a type of what was usual all through the army. 
No one was asked or expected to compromise in the least the 
peculiar tenets of the denomination to which he belonged ; but, 
instead of spending our time in fierce polemics over disputed 
points, we found common ground upon which we could stand 
shoulder to shoulder and labor for the cause of our common 
Master. Bound together by the sacred ties of a common faith 
in Jesus, a common hope of an inheritance beyond the skies, and 
a common desire to bring our brave men to Christ and to do all 
within our power to promote their spiritual interests, we mingled 
together in freest intercourse, took sweet counsel together, 
preached and prayed and labored together, and formed ties of 
friendship- —nay, of brotherhood — which time can never sever, 
and which, we firmly believe, eternity will only purify and 
strengthen. It was our custom, when men professed faith in 
Christ, to take their names and ask what Church they desired to 
join, and, if there was no minister present of that denomination, 
we would promptly send for one. 

(223) 



224 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

Some of my most cherished war mementos are notes from 
Rev. Dr. T. D. Witherspoon (then chaplain of the Forty-second 
Mississippi Regiment, now pastor of one of the Presbyterian 
Churches in Louisville, and one of the noblest Christian gentle- 
men I ever knew) and Rev. W. S. Lacy (of the Twenty-seventh 
North Carolina, one of the truest and most efficient of the many 
noble workers whom our Presbyterian brethren sent to the 
army), and a number of others of my Pedobaptist brethren, 
asking me to come and baptize men who had professed conver- 
sion in their meetings and wanted to unite with the Baptists. 

And I did not hesitate to reciprocate the courtesy, when men 
of my command wanted to unite with other denominations on a 
profession of " repentance towards God and faith towards the 
Lord Jesus Christ." L remember that my good Brother Wither- 
spoon told me, one day, that he had "a good joke on Brother 
Jones," which was to the following effect : I had gone over to 
Davis's Mississippi Brigade, at Brother Witherspoon's invitation, 
and had cut the ice on a mill-pond, at Madison Run Station, 
Orange county, Virginia, and baptized a number of men. In the 
service I had read, without note or comment,. some of the pas- 
sages of Scripture bearing on the ordinance. The next day, one 
of the men, who had been active in the revival meetings, went to 
Chaplain Witherspoon and said : " I do not think that you ought 
to invite Brother Jones to come over here any more." 

" Why not ? What has Brother Jones done that is wrong ? " 

" Well, you know that, while there is no law or rule on the 
subject, it is generally understood that, inasmuch as we have all 
of the evangelical denominations represented in our brigades, no 
man ought to present /its own peadiar doctrines^ 

" Yes," said the chaplain, '* that is true ; but Brother Jones has 
in no way violated this tacit agreement. He has not preached 
his peculiar doctrines." 

" Well, no ; he has not Qx.diCt\y pir ached them," was the reply; 
" but then he read to the crowd all of them Baptist Scriptures^ 

Of course, my good Brother Witherspoon replied: "Why, I 
do not admit that those are 'Baptist Scriptures! " 

Rev. W. S. Lacy, in a series of admirable papers on the 
*' Religious Interest in Lee's Army," written in the New York 
Watchman soon after the war (a series of such rare merit, that I 
have urged him to put them into more permanent form), tells a 
joke which his Methodist Brother Webb, chaplain in the same 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 225 

brigade, got off on him. It so happened that Brother Lacy's 
regiment came from a strong Baptist community, and that a large 
proportion of the converts insisted upon "going down into the 
water," and he never failed to send for me or some other Baptist 
chaplain, and to show every Christian courtesy in the premises. 
He would go with us to the water's edge, join heartily in the 
service of song, and be the first one to greet the young converts 
as they " came up out of the water." And so Brother Webb 
said to him : "Brother Lacy, you remind me of a hen setting on 
duck eggs. She carefully nurses the eggs until the little ducks 
appear, and diligently watches over and cares for them. But 
some day she goes near the water and the whole brood of little 
ducks plunge in, while she has to stand clucking on the bank," 
" Yes," said Brother Lacy, " I cannot follow them in ; but I go 
with them to the water's edge, I receive them with open arms 
when they come out, and I am ever ready to hail them as my 
spiritual children, and to do all in my power to help them serve 
our common Master and reach the home of our common Father 
above." 

And when we Baptist chaplains were called on to assist young 
converts of our charges to unite with other denominations, I trust 
we were not wanting in like Christian spirit and courtesy. 

This cordial co-operation of the chaplains and missionaries of 
the different 'evangelical denominations had the very happiest 
effect on our work. And I am glad to believe that the fraternal 
spirit which has so largely prevailed for some years among 
evangelical Christians at the South is in no small degree due to 
the habit of co-operation which so generally prevailed during the 
war. 

I was sent once to stop the firing of one of our own batteries, 
which was, by mistake, firing into our own men ; and I shall 
never forget the eagerness with which I put spurs to my horse 
and galloped across the field, crying at the top of my voice, as I 
waved a white handkerchief: " Cease firing! Cease firing! You 
are firing into your friends ! " And so I never see bitter contro- 
versies between evangelical Christians that I do not feel like 
crying with all of my feeble powers : " Cease firing into the 
ranks of your brethren, and trail your guns on the mighty hosts 
of the enemies of our common Lord." 

This spirit of fraternity and co-operation was largely promoted 
by the organization of the Chaplains' Associations of the Second 
15 



226 

and Third Corps, and the intercourse between the chaplains thus 
brought about. 

It was my privilege to know personally nearly all of the chap- 
lains of that army, and I do not hesitate to say that, while there 
were in the number a few who were utterly worthless, I never 
knew a more zealous, laborious, self-sacrificing corps of Christian 
ministers than most of these chaplains were. 

Rev. Dr. J. C. Stiles, of the Presbyterian Church, who, though 
seventy years old, gave himself to *' the work of an evangelist " in the 
army with an ability and zeal which younger men might well 
have imitated, thus speaks of the work of the faithful chaplain as 
it came under his observation : 

" These men not only give themselves laboriously to ordinary 
duties of the Christian ministry in their peculiar position, but 
their earnest love of Christ and the soldiers' life prompts them to 
a course of extraordinary self-denying service, admirably adapted 
to revive and extend the interest of the Christian Church in the 
army. 

" They form Camp Churches of all the Christians of every 
denomination in their regiments. The members are expected to 
practise all the duties of brotherly love, Christian watchfulness 
and Christian discipline. Indeed, they are taught to feel them- 
selves under every obligation of strict membership. The chap- 
lain writes to every minister or Church with which the member 
may have been connected, or the young convert desires to be 
united, and giving the name of the person, solicits the prayers 
of the said Church, both for the individual and the whole Camp 
Church, and by correspondence keeps them apprised of the 
history of the party. These chaplains keep a minute record, not 
only of the names of the whole regiment, but of all that may 
assist them either to save the sinner or sanctify the believer. 
Some of them have ten or twelve columns opposite the names 
of different companies of the regiment, so headed as to supply 
all that personal knowledge of the party which might be service- 
able in promoting their spiritual welfare. These columns they 
fill up gradually with such intelligence as they may be able to 
obtain in their pastoral visitations — when sick, wounded or slain; 
when awakened, convicted, converted — all important information 
is conveyed by the chaplain to the fam.ily and the Church. 
These things must necessarily follow — the work of the faithful 
chaplain is most laborious ; he is held in the very highest and 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 227 

warmest estimation by every man in the regiment — saint and 
sinner. He possesses a power to sanctify and save them which 
nothing but earnest and hard-working devotion could finally 
secure." 

Rev. Dr. George B. Taylor, who served so faithfully as chap- 
lain of the Twenty-fifth Virginia Regiment, and afterwards as 
post chaplain in Staunton, and whose useful labors in these 
positions were but the prophecy of his subsequent success as 
missionary to Rome, Italy, wrote a letter on the chaplaincy so 
just and discriminating that I give it in full, as follows: 

" The men generally want chaplains, and appreciate them, 
even if only moderately good and faithful. I believe this is 
largely true of officers, too, though there are some notable ex- 
ceptions. A certain brigadier said chaplains were * the scourge 
of the army.' Some colonels have objected that even faithful 
ministers, by awakening men's fears of retribution, have unfitted 
them for battle. And it is quite notorious that some field-officers 
object to chaplains, who might be a restraint on their drinking 
and profanity. But, after all, I believe most officers desire chap- 
lains, and wish them to be good, earnest men. Certainly my 
observation and pleasant experience has been, that from officers, 
high and low, chaplains receive generally the most courteous 
and even kind treatment. In short, I believe that a minister in the 
army, as elsewhere, will find his true status, and in proportion to 
his soberness, purity and zeal, be loved and respected by those 
who receive his ministrations. Let none suppose that a chaplain's 
post is a sinecure. True, he may shirk his duties and not be 
court-martialed. True, he has some facilities for locomotion and 
* foraging,' not enjoyed by either officers or men. In fact, I 
believe his place is the most pleasant as well as the highest in the 
army. Specially may he, with brother chaplains, with Christians 
of all Churches, and with cultivated men in the ranks or in office, 
enjoy Christian intercourse, often more extensive and unreserved 
than could be in an ordinary pastorate. But, after all, as I said, 
his post is no sinecure. If he sticks to the men as he ought, he 
must learn to say, ' 'Tis home where'er my oil-cloth is,' and may 
often be seen at dewy eve, selecting a clean place or smooth rail 
for his bivouac. He, too, must learn to eat once a day, to live 
on crackers, and may often be seen broiling his fat bacon on the 
coals, or making rye coffee in a tin-cup. Above all, he must 



228 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

forego domestic joys, and even when a furlough is practicable, 
forbear to use it, that he may stay at his post and labor for his 
men. I do not believe public sentiment in the army requires 
chaplains to * take the sword.' In a battle, the chaplain's place 
is with his ambulance, and then at the hospitals. But to be thus 
just in the rear is often to encounter the hottest fire of cannon- 
balls and shells. 

" The material of his congregation is the best, and his preach- 
ing is constantly backed by most solemn providences. Then, as 
a general thing, except on forced marches, he may preach almost 
whenever he pleases. He must learn, however, to be * instant 
out of season.' At ' Cross Keys ' I felt that a battle was immi- 
nent during the day, and preached about half-past 7 o'clock 
A. M. Soon the distant cannon was heard, and ere I reached 
* thirdly,' the colonel asked me to close as soon as I could, as 
he had orders to ' fall in.' It Vv^as the last message some poor 
fellows ever heard. Two weeks thereafter we marched nearly 
all day, and it was not until the setting of the sun that we could 
gather for praise and prayer. 

*' Last Monday was the hottest and most airless day I ever 
felt. About 3 p. M. a brother-chaplain said to me, * Go preach 
for my regiment.' * What ! Monday, and such a warm day, 
too ? ' * Yes. I will give you a good crowd, and take care of 
you.' I went. In ten minutes we were gathered. What Rich- 
mond pastor has such an advantage? After preaching Iwas 
hospitably entertained to supper by the colonel, who kindly 
asked me to preach for his regiment when I could. En passant, 
I doubt whether a man is ever truly grateful until he enters the 
army. Before, he may be thankful in the abstract, but then he 
learns to be thankful for each hour of slumber, and each indi- 
vidual cracker or cup of water. In conclusion, I think, among 
the many evils of war, we should not forget such a benefit as 
this, that it corrects the growing tendency to effeminacy. How 
desirable, if many of our young preachers in this school shall 
learn to 'endure hardness.' Then they can preach as the 
pioneers did, and not be concerned what they shall eat, or where 
they shall sleep ; nor need to be coddled by the mothers in 
Israel, or have eggs and brandy mixed for their throats by the 
pretty daughters in Israel. 

" Chaplain. 

"Camp in Charles City, July 9, 1862." 



229 

I heartily endorse the views expressed above by Dr. Taylor, 
and I desire to testify especially that the officers of the army 
generally were disposed to extend to the faithful chaplain every 
courtesy, and to give him every facility for the prosecution of 
his work. 

Certainly, I received nothing but kindness from the officers 
with whom I came in contact. 

As showing my appreciation at the time of the office of chap- 
lain, and the men fitted for it, I append a card which I published 
in the Religions Herald. 

The Men We Want. 

Messrs. Editors : As my name has been mentioned as one of 
the *' committee of correspondence to facilitate the introduction 
of chaplains into the various regiments of our corps," perhaps 
I ought to say a word with reference to the matter. In private 
letters to brethren I have said, " Send us the names of good 
men;'' and I here repeat, we want none otJiers — our object 
being not merely to fill up the regiments with nominal chaplains, 
but to fill the vacancies with efficient, working men. We want 
effective Gospel preachers, whose burden shall be Christ and Him 
crucified. It is a common mistake that anybody will do to 
preach to soldiers ; and hence the chaplaincies are generally 
filled by young and inexperienced men. But a moment's reflec- 
tion will suffice to convince, that since we have in the army the 
flower of the country, so we ought to have the best preaching- 
talent of the country. I call upon our city and country pastors 
earnestly to consider whether it is not their duty to enter this 
wide field of usefulness. It is a field worthy the attention of our 
most experienced, most useful ministers, and if they cannot get 
their consent to enter regularly upon it, I call upon them to at 
least give us occasional visits. We want men who will stick to 
tlieir posts. I am persuaded that a great deal of harm has been 
done by chaplains resigning, or absenting themselves for long 
periods from their commands, on " detail to collect clothing," or 
some such pretext. The great business of the chaplain is to 
preacJi Christ publicly, and from tent to tent, and the temporal 
welfare of the soldiers should be made subordinate to this. We 
want men physically able as well as willing to endiire hardships 
and privations. If a chaplain would live up to the full measure 
of his usefulness, he must be with his regiment on the weary 



230 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

march (frequently resigning his horse to some foot-sore soldier), 
lie with them around the bivouac-fire after evening prayers are 
over; be drenched on the outposts, or face the pelting snow- 
storm; divide with some hungry soldier his last hard cracker, 
and, in a word, share with his regiment whatever hardships they 
may be called on to endure. Now, if a brother is physically 
unable to endure these hardships, he had best not enter the 
work, but there is no question that many a delicate brother 
would have his health permanently improved, if he would thus 
learn to ** endure hardness as a good soldier." 

I trust that brethren in sending testimonials will remember 
these points. And if the committee should feel called on to 
decline recommending any one, of course they will not be under- 
stood as deciding who shall be denied chaplaincies, but simply 
their oivn itnwillingness to act in the matter. Thus much I felt it 
due to myself and the cause to say. 

J. Wm. Jones, Chaplain Thirteenth Virginia Infantry. 

Our Chaplains' Association was organized in March, 1863, at 
old " Round Oak " church, in Caroline county, and our first care 
was to seek to increase the numbers and efficiency of the chap- 
lains in the corps. 

A report of this first meeting, which I wrote for the Religious 
Herald at the time, will give the facts more accurately than I 
could now recall them : 

Near Hamilton's Crossing, March 19. 

Dear Brethren : We had, on last Monday, a meeting of the 
chaplains of our corps (Jackson's) which proved exceedingly 
interesting, and resulted, I trust, in much good. It was a meet- 
ing for general consultation and prayer, and there were points 
elicited which I am sure would prove of interest to the readers 
of the Herald. 

General Jackson has taken especial pains to have his command 
supplied with chaplains, and yet a little over half of the regiments 
in our corps are still destitute. There are several entire brigades 
without a single chaplain. This destitution was made a special 
topic of discussion, and it was resolved that we will make every 
effort to get chaplains for all of the regiments ; and in the mean- 
time, that we will each preach as often as we can to those that are 
destitute. Rev. Dr. Lacy has been requested by the general to 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 231 

labor as a missionary in the regiments of his corps that are without 
chaplains, and to recommend ministers of the different denomi- 
nations to fill the vacancies. Brethren desirous of obtaining 
chaplaincies for themselves or friends would do well, therefore, to 
write at once to Dr. Lacy, at General Jackson's head-quarters, or 
to some one of the chaplains of our corps. And are there not 
brethren now in the pastorate who might be spared for this most 
important work ? " The harvest is plenteous, and the laborers 
are few." I suppose that in the other army corps there is greater 
destitution than in ours. 

Another point disc^ussed was the general efficiertcy of chap- 
lains. One brother was disposed to coincide with the very harsh 
opinions that have been expressed so frequently concerning 
chaplains ; but the general expression of opinion was, that while 
we all have to mourn that we have come far short of our duty, 
and there are some sad examples of inefficiency, as a class army 
chaplains are as attentive to their duties and as efficient as the 
same number of pastors at home. In my own personal observa- 
tion, during the tzventy-tzvo months I have been in the army, I 
have met with several chaplains who shamefully desert their posts 
on the slightest pretexts ; but, as a general rule, I have found 
them faithfully discharging their duty. Let the chaplain who is 
nearly always absent from his post, and shirks duty when there, 
be held up by name to public censure, but let not the man who 
is constantly at the post of duty be made to share his shame. 
This is as manifestly unjust as it would be to hold up the 
" shirker," the coward, or the " straggler" as a type of the noble 
soldiery that compose our Southern army. It is as fair as it 
would be to take some of the lazy, good-for-nothing preachers at 
home as types of our Southern ministry. But I find that I am 
making this notice rather lengthy, and must pass on. We found 
the meeting so exceedingly pleasant that we determined to hold 
another next Tuesday, and to have them as frequently as circum- 
stances would permit. 

A committee (consisting of Rev. B. T. Lacy, Rev. W. C. Power, 
of South Carolina, and J. Wm. Jones) was appointed at this 
meeting to issue an address to the Churches of the Confederacy 
on the needs of the army. The following paper, written by Mr. 
Lacy, was adopted by the association, and is reproduced here as 
showing the views and feelings of the chaplains at the time : 

Dear Brethren: The relations which we sustain to the various 



232 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

branches of the Church of Christ in our country, and the posi- 
tion which we hold in the Army of the Confederate States, induces 
us to address you upon the important subject of the rehgious in- 
struction of the soldiers engaged in the sacred cause of defending 
our rights, our liberties, and our homes. The one universal sub- 
ject of thought and of feeling is the war. The hearts of the 
people, with singular unanimity, are enlisted in the common 
cause. The object of special interest to all is the army. The 
political and social interests involved excite the patriotism, and 
move the affection of all. There is little necessity for exhorta- 
tion to love of country, or love to our sons and brothers, who 
are fighting and falling in our defence. These emotions, strong 
in the beginning, have become more intense from the heroic 
fortitude of our noble army, and from the wicked designs and 
infamous conduct of our enemies. The history of the past two 
years of the war has amazingly developed and magnified the 
issues, and strengthened and deepened the convictions under 
which the conflict began. Base, beyond all conception, must 
that heart be which does not swell with patriotic devotion to our 
dear and suffering country, which is not stirred with deep and 
righteous indignation against our cruel and guilty foes, and 
which is not melted with profound and tender sympathy for the 
privations of our soldiers and the afflictions of our oppressed 
fellow-citizens in the invaded districts. While these emotions 
may exist in some adequate measure, is the religious interest 
commensurate with the demand of the times ? Is the Church as 
much alive to its duty as the State ? Is the Christian as active 
and as earnest as the citizen ? Duties never conflict. Our 
patriotism will be all the stronger and purer when sanctified by 
religion. The natural sympathies require the controlling influ- 
ence and the plastic power of the love of Christ for their proper 
regulation. To the political and social must be added the re- 
ligious element. To patriotism must be added the mightier 
principle of faith. Let love of country be joined to love of God 
— let the love of our suffering brother be associated with the love 
of our crucified Saviour — let the temporal interests be connected 
with the eternal. One duty should not be allowed to exclude 
another, nor one emotion crowd from the heart the holier pres- 
ence of another. The Church should clearly understand and 
fully estimate the relation which it oustains to the war, and the 
duty which it owes to the army. In an important sense, the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 233 

cause of the country is the cause of the Church. The principles 
involved are those of right, of truth, and of humanity, as well as 
of law, of constitutional liberty, and of national independence. 
In a sense equally as true, and even more important, is the fact, 
that the Church, to the full extent of its ability and opportunity, 
is responsible for the souls of those who fall in this conflict. 
Has she realized this solemn responsibility ? Has she discharged 
her sacred duty? With the opportunities which we have for 
estimating the work to be done, and of observing what has been 
accomplished, we are constrained to say that she has not Surely 
her whole duty has not been done. We tremble when we con- 
template the results which may follow from such delinquency. 
To estimate correctly the work which the Church is called to 
perform, we must consider the vast number of our citizens who 
now compose the armies. All the men of the country, below 
the age of forty, are in the field. To these must be added many 
manly boys below, and many patriotic men above the prescribed 
ages. The intellectual and physical strength of the entire 
country is assembled in martial array. The ratio of religious 
instructors assigned by the bill for the appointment of chaplains 
(a bill in some important respects still defective), is one chaplain 
for every regiment. How has this arrangement been seconded 
by the Church and the ministry? How many of the five or six 
hundred regiments are now supplied with faithful pastors ? We 
have not the means of determining the number engaged in the 
whole service, but we give you the result as to our own corps — 
a body of troops commanded by that sincere Christian, Lieu- 
tenant-General T. J. Jackson, who has given special encourage- 
ment to the work of supplying the corps with chaplains — not 
one-half of the regiments of infantry are supplied. Some entire 
brigades have no chaplain at all. In the artillery attached to 
the corps the destitution is still greater. With these facts before 
us, is it too much to affirm that there are not two hundred chap- 
lains now in the field in all our armies ? At the same time, will 
not the statistics of the different Churches in the Confederate 
States show an aggregate of five or six thousand ministers of 
the Gospel ? 

Ministerial brethren, ought this thing so to be ? Church of 
the living God, awake from your lethargy and arouse to your 
duty ! We are well aware of the pure and lofty patriotism of 
the Southern ministry. We know that your hearts are as truly 



234 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

and deeply enlisted in the cause of the country as ours ; and we 
are also aware of the fact that a large number of chaplains are 
stationed at posts and laboring faithfully in hospitals, and many 
ministers of the Gospel are serving as officers and as privates in 
the army. But how great is the destitution in the field ? And 
how many of our soldiers are perishing without the bread of 
life? 

There are no great difficulties in the way of obtaining an 
appointment for any suitable minister in any denomination of 
Christians. God has opened a wide and effectual door of access 
to the work. In the work itself there are no difficulties which 
zeal and faith cannot readily overcome. The chief obstructions 
are those which exist everywhere in the conflict between sin and 
holiness. There are no vices or prejudices peculiar to the army 
which are any greater hindrances to the work of grace than 
those which are to be encountered in the cities and throughout 
the country. Our work is a hard work, and there are privations 
which must be endured. The fare of the chaplain is that of the 
soldier. The exposures and discomforts to be encountered are 
in striking contrast with the previous lives of most ministers of 
the Gospel. The health of some has failed in the service, and 
some, indeed, have laid down their lives for their brethren, but 
to many the change of habits has been beneficial, and the feeble 
have come to endure hardness as good soldiers. The chaplain, 
however faithful, will at times be discouraged. Men will seem 
to take little interest in his preaching; profanity, card-playing, 
and Sabbath-breaking will be on the increase; his presence often 
will be no restraint upon vice, and when he has faithfully dis- 
charged his duty he may meet with censure and ridicule. In 
camp-life there is an indolence of mind produced, and an aversion 
to serious thought. There is also a disposition to seek entertain- 
ment in all manner of foolish talking and jesting. On the march, 
and on an active campaign, the attention is much absorbed, and 
time is often wanting- for relicrious duties. The carelessness and 
open apostasy of professors of religion are here — as well as every- 
where else — a great hindrance to the success of the Gospel. The 
readiness with which chaplains have resigned their places, or 
absented themselves from their regiments, is a source of discour- 
agement to the soldiers and to their brethren who remain. In 
the hasty opinions and sweeping judgments of many, in and out 
of the army, the deficiencies of some have been unjustly attributed 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 235 

to others, and the failure of a few regarded as the failure of all. 
But these, you perceive, brethren, are essentially the same diffi- 
culties, in a different form, which the minister of God must 
encounter everywhere in this sinful world. Our chief ground of 
discourag-ement, however, is in ourselves. With more faith in 
God, and more love for the souls of men, with more of the spirit 
of our blessed Lord, we should behold greater and more precious 
results. 

If there are discouragements peculiar to our work, there are. 
peculiar encouragements also. We believe that God is with us, 
not only to own and bless His word to the salvation of men, but 
that His blessing rests upon our cause and attends our armies. 
It is a high privilege and great satisfaction to preach to soldiers 
to whom God has given such signal victories. The moral influ- 
ence of a just and righteous cause is a happy introduction to, 
and a good preparation for the holier cause of religion. The 
objects for which our soldiers are fighting possess incalculable 
power in controlling the naturally demoralizing influence of war. 
We are thankful to God for the large number of Christian 
officers who command our armies and aid us in our work. 
The presence of so many pious men in the ranks gives us a 
Church in almost every regiment to begin with. The intercourse 
and communion of Christian brethren in the army is as intimate 
and precious as anywhere upon earth. It is an interesting fact, 
that by this work ministers of the different denominations are 
brought into closer and more harmonious co-operation, thus 
promoting the unity and charity of the whole Church, and greatly 
encouraging each other. Many of the greatest temptations to 
vice are excluded from the army. There is much time for prof- 
itable reflection. The near approach of death excites to serious 
thought. Religious reading is sought and appreciated. Many 
opportunities for personal kindness to the sick and the wounded, 
on the battle-field and in the camp, bind grateful hearts to faithful 
chaplains. In preaching the word, conducting prayer-meetings 
and Bible-classes, by circulating the Scriptures and other re- 
ligious reading, and by frequent conversations in private, we 
have ample opportunity for doing our Master's work and labor- 
ing for immortal souls. Our greatest encouragement, however, 
has been from the presence and power of the Holy Spirit among 
us. He who has led our armies to victory, conducting them like 
the hosts of Israel with the pillar of cloud and of fire by night 



236 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

and by day, has also encamped round about us, and the taber- 
nacle of the Lord has been in the midst of our tents. We be- 
lieve there have been more powerful and blessed revivals of 
religion in the army than out of it during the last two years. 
We know of a large Church in which almost all the additions for 
more than a year have been of young men visiting their homes 
on furloughs from the army. At this very time a most interest- 
ing and extensive work of grace is in progress amongst the 
troops stationed in and around the desolated city of Fredericks- 
burg. The evidences of God's love and mercy are thus brought 
into immediate and striking contrast with the marks of the 
cruelty and barbarity of men. 

Brethren, do not these movements of the Holy Ghost indicate 
where God's ministers should follow, and in what work they 
should engage ? Our work, though hard, is a pleasant work, 
and we feel it to be a precious and glorious work. Much more 
has been accomplished than has been made known abroad. 
Comparatively few publications have been sent out by the chap- 
lains, but many earnest and faithful sermons have been preached, 
many copies of the Holy Scriptures have been put into the 
hands of the soldiers by chaplains and colporters, and much 
printed matter in the form of religious newspapers and tracts 
has been circulated and eagerly read ; precious communions 
have been held, and souls have been added to the Church of 
Christ, of such as, we believe, shall be saved. Eternity alone 
can disclose the extent of the blessed work which faithful chap- 
lains have accomplished in our armies. 

We have told you these things, brethren, that your interest 
might be increased in this cause, and in ourselves as identified 
with the cause. If we have only mentioned what was before 
familiar to you, we desire to stir up your pure minds by way of 
remembrance. We would respectfully, and in Christian love, 
submit the following suggestions for your consideration, earnestly 
beseeching your co-operation, your sympathy and your prayers : 

Let the Church humble herself before her Lord — let all Chris- 
tians, of every name in our land, engage in acts of humiliation 
and of prayer. The frequent calls of our excellent and pious 
President to this duty have been attended by evident tokens of 
the Divine favor. May the observance of the appointed day, 
which is now at hand, be followed by the signal blessing of 
Almighty God, and the solemn day be kept holy unto the Lord 



Or, religion in lee's army. 237 

by the army and by all the people. I fever a nation was called to 
prostrate itself at the foot of the Cross, and to suplicate the mercy 
of God with strong crying and tears, it is this. God, we believe, 
will deliver us from our enemies, but that deliverance must come 
in answer to prayer. 

In order that our prayers may be heard, and our solemn days 
be not an abomination unto the Lord, we must put away sin 
from among us. There are sins, both of a national and individ- 
ual character, which are rapidly engendered in a time like this — 
a spirit of recklessness and profanity — a disregard of the laws of 
life and of property — too great a reliance upon an arm of flesh — 
and it rnay be, under peculiar aggravations, a sinful feeling of 
malignant and bloodthirsty revenge has been indulged. But, 
more than all, a spirit of unhallowed greed, of unrighteous ex- 
tortion. Ill-gotten gains will prove a curse to the individual, 
and injurious to the country. It is no time for amassing wealth. 
Can the true patriot, can the true Christian grow rich in the 
hour of his country's peril? If in any proper and legitimate 
manner, without injury to others, money is accumulated, give it 
to your country, give it to the poor, give it to the suffering 
families of the soldiers, send a chaplain to the army, and assist in 
the support of his family while he is engaged in the work. Let 
the Church of Jesus Christ clear herself of this sin, and let not 
the hidden wedge and the Babylonish garment be found in her 
tents. By precept and example let the Church seek to foster a 
generous and self-sacrificing spirit among all classes of the 
people. 

Brethren, send us more chaplains. The harvest truly is great, 
the laborers are few. We send abroad to the Churches the 
Macedonian cry. Come .and help us. The work is an earnest, a 
pressing work. Now is emphatically the accepted time for the 
army. The cause will not brook delay. A series of battles, 
which may speedily follow the opening of the campaign, will 
sweep away thousands of our brave comrades and friends — 
thousands of your own sons and brothers. Then come while it 
is called to-day. Come up to the help of the Lord, to the help 
of the Lord against the mighty, and escape the curse of Meroz. 

We especially appeal to the Churches in their organized capac- 
ity, and ask of conventions, conferences, presbyteries and as- 
sociations, to set apart men of the best talent and largest experi- 
ence unto this work. Such a call, coming with the potential 



238 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

authority of a Church of God, would doubtless decide many of 
the ablest ministers in the country to cast in their lots with us. 
We cordially and earnestly invite the venerable fathers of the 
church to visit the army and preach for a few days or weeks in 
the regiments. Such voluntary labors, in many instances, have 
been signally blessed. The Churches should be willing to spare 
their pastors for this work, and seek temporary supplies from 
neighboring ministers ; or, at least, all congregations might 
allow their ministers to visit the army for a time and labor for 
those who have gone forth in their defence. Have not the sol- 
diers, who are away from their homes and Churches, the right 
to claim a part of the time of their own pastors ? But especially 
do we call upon the younger men in the ministry — and we call 
upon you, young men, because you are strong — come, take 
part in this sacred cause and this holy fellowship with us. 

If the ministers of the Gospel, below the age of forty, are ex- 
empted from ordinary military duty, are they not bound to 
serve their country and the army in the capacity of chaplains ? 
Have you a right to stay away while this destitution exists ? 
We urge no extreme or fanatical view ; let all the regiments be 
supplied, and still the vast majority of ministers will remain at 
home with their congregations. We plead only for that which 
is just and equal. And we feel that we but do this when we 
maintain that congregations should assist in the support of the 
families of chaplains while laboring in the army. Such an 
arrangement would give hundreds of excellent men to the work. 

Brethren, pray for us. To know that we are constantly re- 
membered at a throne of grace — in the Churches and in the 
families — in the public and in the private devotions of the people 
of God — will greatly encourage our hearts and strengthen our 
hands. Prayer should be made without ceasing to the God and 
Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in behalf of our 
cause, our country, our officers and our soldiers. Pray for us, 
that we may be faithful, and that our labors may be blessed in 
the conversion of souls. 

We ask these things of you, dear brethren, because we believe 
that the final success of our arms is intimately connected with 
the fidelity of the Church in fulfilling its duty to the army, and 
closely related to the religious character of the army itself It 
was remarked by one of our distinguished and Christian generals, 
that " the only ground of apprehension to be felt is from the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 239 

want of piety in the army. Were all the soldiers sincere Chris- 
tians and praying men, in a cause like ours, they would be in- 
vincible." In such an army there would be two distinct sources 
of success in addition to the ordinary elements of military power 
— the loftier courage derived from Christian faith, and the direct 
blessing of God in answer to prayer. If the want of faithfulness 
on the part of the Church, the impiety of the army and the 
people, should prevent God's blessing, then the unfaithfulness 
of the Church will have blasted our hopes, destroyed our country, 
and left a continent in ruins. 

There should be no separation made between the army and 
the country, between the soldier and the citizen. The army is 
composed of the people, and the soldiers are citizens. At this 
very time the soldiers in the field are the only electors of repre- 
sentatives for many of the congressional and legislative districts. 
Those who achieve our independence are the same who must 
maintain it. The sole governors of the country, for one gener- 
ation at least, will be the survivors of the army. Those who 
win the battles, must make, administer, enforce and obey the 
laws. If these be depraved and godless through the neglect of 
the Church, and their want of moral integrity and elevation de- 
stroy the governrnent, and bring upon the land the curse of 
God, then in vain the mighty sacrifice of treasure and of blood 
— in vain the army of our martyred dead — in vain the sacred 
gift bequeathed from bleeding sires to sons. Better never to 
have fought and won the victory, than afterwards to forfeit it and 
lose the blessing. This may be the last struggle for constitu- 
tional liberty which will be made on this continent. The prog- 
ress of the race, the happiness of millions, are involved. A grand 
responsibility rests upon our young republic, and a mighty work 
lies before it. Baptized in its infancy in blood, may it receive 
the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and be consecrated to its high 
and holy mission among the nations of the earth. 

This, we fondly hope, will be the last year of this bloody war. 
But of that no one can certainly know. How ardently is a 
permanent and honorable peace desired ! For this object united 
prayers should go up continually to the throne of God by night 
and by day. Weeping between the porch and the altar, Zion 
should lift up her voice without ceasing unto her Saviour and 
her God. This war must be regarded by all Christian men as a 
chastisement from the hand of God on account of our sins. 



240 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

The object of all chastening is purification. War, pestilence and 
famine, when they came upon God's ancient people, were de- 
signed to turn them from their sins, and to bring them back to 
his love and service. When that result was accomplished the 
chastisement was removed. Has the Church in our afflicted 
land learned aright the chastening lessons of her God ? Have 
the rulers and the people, like those of Nineveh, repented before 
the judgments of the Lord ? In some hopeful measure this 
undoubtedly has been the result. We believe that in humility, 
in sincerity of faith, in thankfulness for mercies, and in prayer- 
fulness, there has been improvement. Men have been called to 
sacrifice .self for principle, and freely has the sacrifice been made 
by millions. A tenderer charity, and a larger benevolence than 
ever before, open the hands and fill the hearts of many. 

A higher estimate has been placed upon tnitli and upon rigJit 
by a people resisting unto blood, striving against sin. We may 
indulge the hope that the results which God designed are follow- 
ing from the war. And when they are accomplished the war 
will cease. The coming of peace will be insured, and will be 
hastened by our fidelity in duty and our devotion in prayer. 

But, brethren, our great argument with you is the salvation 
of the souls of men, the salvation of our sons and brothers, the 
salvation of our dear soldiers. We plead for those who are 
ready to lay down the life that now is. Shall they lose also the 
life which is to come ? If the sacrifice of the body is demanded, 
shall that of the soul be made? If time is forfeited, must 
eternity be lost ? 

The great object for which the Church of God was instituted 
upon earth is the same as that for which the Son of God died 
upon the Cross — the glory of God in the salvation of men. 

We urge you, then, by this last and greatest of all considera- 
tions, to aid us in this blessed work by your presence, your 
sympathies, your contributions, and your prayers. 

March 24, 1863. 

The address and the efforts put forth were very effective, and 
the number of chaplains and missionaries was greatly increased, 
and the estimate put upon the value of the services of a faithful 
missionary was greatly enhanced, until even the most irreligious 
officers of the army were anxious to have the services of the 
faithful chaplain or missionary. 



OR, RELIGION IX LEE's ARMY. 241 

Dr. Leyburn gives the following from the letter of a distin- 
guished gentleman : " There is a marked and perceptible differ- 
ence between the morale of a regiment furnished with a good 
chaplain and one which has none. The men are more orderly, 
better contented, and really more efficient. Now and then I 
meet with an officer who appreciates all this, and even some ir- 
religious colonels seek the co-operation of a good chaplain in 
their desire to render their regiments as efficient as possible." 

The denominations generally appointed some of their best 
men to enter the army as missionaries, and supplemented the 
scant salaries of the chaplains. 

It was reported in 1864 that "The Old School Presbyterians 
employed, the past Assembly-year, 130 missionaries and chap- 
lains in our different armies ; and contributions to that Avork fell 
little short of $80,000. These laborers reported, at the General 
Assembly, in its meeting at Charlotte, the conversion of 12,000 
soldiers during the year." 

But the work of the chaplains and missionaries will further 
appear as our narrative proceeds, and it will be seen that we had 
an earnest, zealous, and faithful corps of laborers. 
16 



CHAPTER VIII. 

EAGERNESS OF THE SOLDIERS TO HEAR THE GOSPEL. 

BUT, in pointing out the instrumentalities which God blessed 
to the spiritual good of our brave men, their own eagerness 
to hear the Gospel must not be overlooked. Indeed I believe 
that the desire of these men to listen to the Gospel and to re- 
ceive religious instruction has never been surpassed. Let us 
visit some of these camps, and mingle in some of these scenes 
of worship, and if I shall be able to picture them as I saw them, 
I can give a far more vivid idea of them than by the recital of 
the detailed facts and figures. 

It matters not what day in the week it may be, or what hour 
of the day, you have only to pass the word around that there 
will be preaching at such a point, and there will promptly as- 
semble a large crowd of eager listeners. No appointment for 
weeks, or days, or hours ahead is necessary. No church-bell 
summons, to gorgeous houses of worship, elegant ladies or 
fashionably attired men. But a few taps of the drum, a few 
strains of the bugle, or, better still, the singing of some old, 
familiar hymn, serves as a " church call " well understood, and 
from every part of the camp weather-beaten soldiers, in faded 
and tattered uniforms, hapten to the selected spot and gather 
close around the preacher, who, with '* Nature's great temple " 
for his church, and the blue canopy of heaven for his " sounding 
board," is fortunate if he have so much as a barrel or well- 
rounded stump for a pulpit. 

But I proposed to take you, kind reader, to some of our meet- 
ings. Let us first visit the battered old town of Fredericksburg 
in the early weeks of 1863. We enter at sundown, just as the 
regiments of Barksdale's Brigade of heroic Missisippians are re- 
turning to their quarters from " dress parade," and we pause to 
gaze with admiration on the men who, on that bleak December 
morning, held the town with such tenacity against Burnside's 
mighty hosts until " Marse Robert " had formed on the hills be- 
(242) 



243 

yond his lines of Gray, against which the waves of Blue surged 
in vain. 

Soon we hear the familiar command, " Break ranks," and im- 
mediately the streets are filled with soldiers eagerly running in a 
given direction. 

"What does this mean?" a stranger would inquire. "Is 

* Old John Robinson ' about to have a performance of his circus ? 
Has 'Wyman, the great magician,' come to town? Are the 

* Negro Minstrels ' about to exhibit ? What means this eager 
running? " Ask one of the men, and he will scarcely pause as 
he replies : "We are trying to get into the church before all of 
the seats are taken." 

Yes ! the house of God is the goal they seek, and long be- 
fore the appointed hour the spacious Episcopal church, kindly 
tendered for the purpose by its rector, is filled — nay, packed — to 
its utmost capacity — lower floor, galleries, aisles, chancel, pulpit- 
steps and vestibule — while hundreds turn disappointed away, 
unable to find even standing-room. The great revival has 
begun, and this brigade and all of the surrounding brigades 
are stirred with a desire to hear the Gospel, rarely equalled. 

Enter, if you can make your way through the crowd, and 
mingle with that vast congregation of worshippers. They cfo 
not spend their time while waiting for the coming of the preacher 
in idle gossip, or a listless staring at every new comer, but a 
clear voice strikes some familiar hymn, around which cluster 
hallowed memories of home, and of the dear old church far 
away — the whole congregation join in the hymn, and there 
arises a volume of sacred song that seems almost ready to take 
the roof off of the house. I may be an " old fogy," but I de- 
clare I would not give one of those old songs which " the boys " 
used to sing "with the spirit and the understanding," and into 
which they threw their souls, for all of the " classic music " 
which grand organ and " quartette choir " ever rendered. 

The song ceases, a«nd one of the men leads in prayer. And 
he prays. He does not tell the Lord the news of the day, or 
recount to him the history of the country. He does not make 
"a stump-speech to the Lord" on the war — its causes, its prog- 
ress, or its prospects. But, from the depths of a heart that feels 
its needs, he tells of present wants, asks for present blessings, 
and begs for the Holy Spirit in His convicting, converting power. 
I have rarely, if ever, heard such prayers as some of these men 



244 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

used to make. I remember that Brother Owen, the Methodist 
chaplain who had the general conduct of these meetings, used to 
keep an accurate list of the men who professed conversion in the 
brigade, and from this list they were called on to lead in prayer. 

I never heard of one who refused, and as a rule they made 
tender, earnest, appropriate prayers. 

But presently some man in a tattered jacket gets up to speak, 
and the stranger might ask: " What business has he to speak in 
one of these meetings?" Listen, and you will soon see. As in 
simple, earnest style, he tells something of his own experience, 
or exhorts his comrades to come to Chirst, you hear indeed 

" Words that breathe 
And thoughts that burn," 

and you feel that if eloquence is *' logic set on fire," then that 
soldier is eloquent beyond almost any man you ever heard. The 
crowd seems thrilled by the power of his burning words and the 
momentous truth he utters. 

But, after a while, the preacher comes in and the pulpit-service 
begins. It may be Dr. J. C. Stiles, the able expounder of the Gos- 
pel, who preached very frequently in these meetings, and whose 
iffitiring labors in the army were so richly blessed — it may be 
that gifted pulpit-orator, the lamented Dr. William J. Hoge — it 
may be "the golden-mouthed orator of the Virginia pulpit," Dr. 
James A. Duncan, in whose death his denomination and the 
State sustained an irreparable loss — it may be the peerless Dr. 
J. L. Burrows, whose self-sacrificing labors for the temporal and 
spiritual welfare of the soldiers were so greatly blessed, and 
gave him so warm a place in the affections of " the boys " and 
of our whole Confederate people — it may be our earnest evan- 
gelist. Brother Carroll — it may be one of the chaplains, or it 
may be Brother J. L. Pettigrew, of Mississippi, or some other 
private soldier. But, whoever it is, Jie preaches the Gospel. He 
does not discuss the " Relation of Science to Religion," or the 
slavery question, or the causes which. led to the war, or the war 
itself He does not indulge in abusive epithets of the invaders 
of our soil, or seek to fire his hearers with hatred or vindictive- 
ness towards the enem.y. He has no use for any theology that 
is newer than the New Testament, and he indulges in no fierce 
polemics against Christians of other denominations. He is look- 
ing in the eyes of heroes of many a battle, and knows that the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 245 

" long roll " may beat ere he closes — that these brave fellows 
may be summoned at once to new fields of carnage — and that 
he may be delivering then the last message of salvation that 
some of them may ever hear. 

I remember that I preached to this vast congregation the very 
night before Hooker crossed the river, bringing on the battles 
of Second Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville-^that, in my 
closing appeal, I urged them to accept Christ then and there, 
because they did not know but that they were hearing their 
" last invitation," and that sure enough we were aroused before 
day the next morning by the crossing of the enemy, and in the 
battles which followed, many of these noble fellows wej^e called 
to the judgment-bar of God. And so, when the preacher stood 
up before these congregations of veterans, his very soul was 
stirred within him, and he " determined to know nothing among 
them save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." If the personal 
allusions may be pardoned, I do not believe that Dr. Burrows, 
Dr. Stiles, Dr. Hoge, Dr. Dabney, Dr. Pryor, Dr. Lacy, Dr. 
Moore, Dr. Read, Dr. Duncan, Dr. Cranberry, Dr. Rosser, Dr. 
Doggett, Dr. Edwards, Dr. John A. Broadus, Dr. Pritchard, Dr. 
Wingate, Dr. Andrew Broaddus, Dr. Jeter, Dr. A. B. Brown, or 
any of the missionaries or chaplains were ever able, before or 
since, to preach sermons of such power as they were stirred up 
to preach in the army. If a man had any capacity whatever to 
preach, it would be developed under circumstances which 
would have stirred an angel's heart; and if he knew anything 
about the Gospel at all, he would tell it to these congregations. 

And so our preacher, whoever he may be, tells " the old, old 
story of Jesus and His love." He has throughout the undivided 
attention of the crowd ; ,there are tears in eyes " unused to 
the melting mood;" and when at the close of the sermon the 
invitation is given, and some stirring hymn is sung, there will be 
20, 50, 100, or even as many as 200, to ask an interest in the 
prayers of God's people, or profess their faith in Jesus. 

There were over 500 professions of conversion in these meet- 
ings at Fredericksburg, and the good work extended out into 
the neighboring brigades, and went graciously on — only tempo- 
rarily interrupted by the battle of Chancellorsville — until we took 
up the line of march for Gettysburg. Indeed, it did not cease 
even on that active campaign, but culminated in the great revival 
along the Rapidan in August, 1863, which reached nearly the 



246 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

whole army, and really did not cease until the surrender at 
Appomattox. 

On Sunday evening, September 6, 1863, I had an engagement 
to preach for Brother J. J. D. Renfroe, chaplain of the Tenth 
Alabama, in the great revival in Wilcox's Brigade, camped near 
the Rapidan, not far from Orange Court House. As further 
illustrating the character of our work, I may mention that I 
preached to a large congregation in my own brigade at 6 o'clock 
that morning. At 1 1 o'clock I went to the Baptist church at 
Orange Court House, and assisted in the ordinatfon of Brother 
W. G. Curry, of the Third Alabama Regiment, who had been gal- 
lantly serving in the ranks, but who had been appointed chaplain 
of his regiment, and whose Church had called for his ordination. 

In the afternoon I witnessed a most interesting baptismal 
scene in a creek near the railroad, about a mile and a half north 
of Orange Court House, where Dr. Andrew Broaddus, of Caro- 
line county (acting for Chaplain Hilary E. Hatcher, of Mahone's 
Brigade, who was sick), and Chaplain Renfroe baptized eighty- 
two soldiers belonging to Mahone's Virginia and Wilcox's Ala- 
bama Brigades. About five thousand soldiers, from the general 
to the private, lined the banks. There was deep solemnity 
pervading the vast throng, and a more impressive scene is rarely 
witnessed. 

About dusk that evening I went with Brother Renfroe to his 
place of worship. The men came from every direction, not only 
from this, but from all of the neighboring brigades, until, when 
I got up to preach, the light of the fire-stands revealed at least 
5,000 men seated on the rude logs, or on the ground, and with 
upturned, eager faces, ready to drink in every word the preacher 
had to say. My text was : " The blood of Jesus Christ His Son 
cleanse thus from all sin ; " and as I tried to tell in simple, earnest 
words 

" The old, old story, 
Of Jesus and His love," 

I could see in the dim light the intense interest and the starting 
tear. At the close of the service, those interested in their souls' 
salvation and desiring an interest in the prayers of God's people 
were invited to come and give us their hand, and they continued 
to press forward until we had counted over 600, of whom about 
200 professed conversion. 

I remember that, after our service was over, I went by 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 247 

Mahone's Brigade, a short distance off, and found Dr. J. A. 
Broadus and Brother Hatcher still instructing a large number 
of inquirers who lingered at their place of preaching, loath to 
depart. 

Immense congregations assembled at this period in almost any 
brigade at which we had preaching, and some of the scenes are 
as vividly impressed upon me as if they had been yesterday. 
Dr. John A. Broadus, Dr. Andrew Broaddus, Rev. Andrew 
Broaddus (of Kentucky), Dr. Burrows, Dr. Thos. H. Pritchard, 
Dr. Jeter, Dr. Dickinson, Rev. F. M. Barker, Rev. L. J. Haley, 
Dr. J. A. Duncan, Dr. Rosser, Dr. Doggett, Dr. J. E. Edwards, 
Dr. Hoge, Dr. Stiles, Dr. Bocock, Dr. Pryor, Dr. Bennett, 
and others, came to preach in the camps, and the chaplains had 
no sort of difficulty in giving them constant work and very 
large congregations. I vividly recall dear old Brother Andrew 
Broaddus (who had been acting as agent for army missions, but 
often ''took a furlough " to come to the army, where his labors 
were greatly blessed) as he rode up to my quarters, near old 
Pisgah Church, one day, and to my invitation to dismount, re- 
plied : " No ! I was ordered by * General Dickinson ' to report to 
you for duty; but I must know where I am to preach to-night 
before I can get off my horse, for if you have no place for me, I 
must at once proceed to find one for myself" " Oh ! " I re- 
plied, ** there are a planty of places at which you can preach, 
but I have just received a note from Brother Cridlin, of Arm- 
istead's Brigade, saying that he is in the midst of a great revival, 
is sick, and greatly needs help." "All right," responded the 
veteran ; " now I will dismount. I will eat some of your rations 
and go at once to help Brother Cridlin." 

On fast-day of that autumn I had Dr. John A. Broadus to 
preach y<??/r times, at different points ; and while all of the services 
were of deep interest, I particularly recall the service at sundown, 
held at General Gordon's head-quarters. The general, who had 
conducted a prayer-meeting himself in the morning, and made a 
stirring address to his brigade, had sent out the notices and ex- 
erted himself to have a congregation, and a large crowd, espe- 
cially of officers, attended. I recall the text — " Her ways are 
ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace " — and the ser- 
mon as clearly as if it had been last week, instead of twenty-three 
years ago, and the profound impression which it produced lingers 
in my memory as " a sweet savor." At times there was scarcely 



248 

a dry eye in the vast throng, and the tears of generals, colonels 
and captains mingled freely with those of the rank and file. I 
never heard Dr. Broadus preach Avith more power, and I do not 
believe that he ever did. 

In an appeal for more preachers to come to the army, pub- 
lished in the Religious Hei^ald dhout the ist of September, 1863, 
Dr. Broadus thus writes : " It is impossible to convey any just 
idea of the wide and effectual door that is now opened for preach- 
ing in the Army of Northern Virginia. ... In every command 
that I visit, or hear from, a large proportion of the soldiers will 
attend preaching and listen well ; and in many cases the interest 
is really wonderful. ... A much larger proportion of the sol- 
diers attend preaching in camp than used to attend at home; and 
when any interest is awakened the homogeneit}" and fellow-feel- 
ing which exists among them may be a powerful means, as used 
by the Divine Spirit, of diffusing that interest through the whole 
mass. Brethren, there is far more religious interest in this army 
than at home. The Holy Spirit seems everywhere moving 
among us. These widespread camps are a magnificent collec- 
tion of camp-meetings. Brethren, it is the noblest opportunity 
for protracted meetings you ever saw. The rich, ripe harvest 
stands waiting. Come, brother, thrust in your sickle, and, by 
God's blessing, you shall reap golden sheaves that shall be your 
rejoicing in time and eternity." 

We made it a rule to preach at least once every day during 
this period, and many of us for weeks together averaged two 
sermons a day to congregations of from one to three thousand 
listeners. I remember that at one and the same time I had the 
general conduct of /<?//r protracted meetings in four brigades 
(Gordon's Georgia, Hays's Louisiana, Hoke's North Carolina, 
and Smith's Virginia), and attended a service in each every day; 
and that on several occasions I baptized two, three and four times 
(at different points) without changing my clothes. (The plain 
truth was that I had only o?ie change, and considered myself 
fortunate in having that.) 

As illustrating how men would come out to preaching under 
difficulties, one of the chaplains reported that one Sunday in the 
early winter of 1863 there came a fall of snow, which he sup- 
posed would entirely break up his Sunday service, as they had 
no chapel ; but, at the appointed hour, he heard singing at their 
usual place of worship, and looking out he saw that a large con- 



249 

gregation had assembled. He, of course, went at once to the 
place and preached to deeply interested men, who stood in snow 
several inches deep, and among the number he counted foiwteen 
barefooted men^ besides scores whose shoes afforded very little 
protection from the snow. Many times have I seen barefooted 
men attending prayer-meeting or preaching in the snow or dur- 
■ ing the coldest weather of winter. 

I went one day to meet an appointment in Davis's Mississippi 
Brigade, which had lost their winter-quarters and comfortable 
chapel, south of Orange Court House, by being ordered on 
picket-duty near the Rapidan. A steady rain was falling, and I 
went with no idea of being able to preach, but hoping to meet a 
few of the inquirers under their rude shelters, that I might point 
them to " the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the 
world." To my surprise, as I rode up, I heard a volume of 
sacred song ascending from the usual place of worship, and 
found a large congregation assembled on the rude logs. I told 
them that while I was willing to preach to them, I would not 
ask them to remain in the rain — that I would take it as no dis- 
courtesy if they left, and rather thought that they ougJit to do so. 
Not a man stirred, and I preached forty minutes in a constant 
rain to as attentive a congregation as I ever addressed. The 
men used to say : " We go on picket ; we march and fight, and 
do all other military duty in any weather that comes, and we 
cannot see why we should allow the weather to interrupt our 
religious privileges." 

Our brethren who in the^jx) days are accustomed to stay from 
church if it rains or snows, or looks like it might do so in the 
course of a week, would do well to study the example and catch 
the spirit of these soldiers. 

At first the popular impression, even among the chaplains, 
was that but little could be done during an active campaign ex- 
cept in the hospitals. But it soon appeared that the faithful 
chaplain who would stick to his post and watch for opportuni- 
ties — who was ready to resign his horse to some poor fellow 
with bare and blistered feet while he marched in the column as 
it hurried forward — who went with his men on picket — who 
bivouacked with them in the pelting storm — and who went with 
them into the leaden and iron hail of battle — who, in a word, 
was ready to share their hardships and dangers — such a man had, 
during the most active campaign, golden opportunities of point- 



250 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

ing the sick and wounded to the great Physician ; the hungry to 
" the bread of hfe ; " the thirsty to " the water of life ; " the weary 
to the *' rest that remaineth for the people of God," and the dying 
to " the resurrection and the life." The largest congregations I 
ever addressed were on the eve of some great battle, when men 
would throw away their cards, cease their profanity, and be in a 
most tender frame of mind to hear the Gospel. And some of 
the most precious seasons I ever enjoyed were in some of our 
meetings on the eve of battle. I can recall, as if it were last 
night, some of those scenes on that famous " Valley campaign," 
which won for our brave boys the sobriquet of *' Jackson's Foot 
Cavalry." 

Starting at " early dawn " (a favorite hour, by the way, with 
our great chief, of whom *' the boys " used to say : *' He always 
marches at early dawn, except when he starts the 7iight before "), 
it was tramp, tramp, tramp all day along the hard turnpike, the 
only orders being, " Press forward ! " " Press forward!" 

As the evening shadows began to gather on the mountain tops 
some of the best men would fall out of ranks and declare that 
they could go no further, and it did seem that even " the Foot 
Cavalry " could do no more. But presently the word is passed 
back along the line, " The head of the column is going into 
camp." Immediately the weak grow strong again, the weary 
become fresh, the laggard hastens forward, and there upon some 
green sward on the banks of the beautiful Shenandoah — though 
like Jacob of old we had but the hard ground for our couch, 
rocks for our pillows, and the blue canopy of heaven for our 
covering — w^e lay us down to rest, oh ! so sweet after a hard day's 
march. But before the bivouac is quiet for the night there as- 
sembles a little group at some convenient spot hard by, who strike 
up some dear old hymn which recalls hallowed memories of 
home and loved ones, and of the dear old church far away, and 
which serves now as a prayer-call well understood. From all 
parts of the bivouac men hasten to the spot ; the song grows 
clearer and louder, and in a few moments a ver^' large congrega- 
tion has assembled. And as the chaplain reads some appropriate 
Scripture, leads in fervent prayer, and speaks words of earnest 
counsel, faithful admonition or solemn warning, 

" Something on the soldier's cheek 
Washes off the stain of powder." 




A SERVICE INTERRUPTED. 



Christ in the Camp."— Page 251. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 251 

Ah ! I can recall, even after this lapse of twenty-five years, 
not a few bright faces who used to join in those precious meet- 
ings, who were soon after striking golden harps as they joined 
the celestial choir. 

I recollect that we had very large congregations at Winchester, 
after Banks had been driven across the Potomac, on the call of 
our Christian leader to the " thanksgiving" service which he was 
accustomed to appoint after each victory — that we had a very 
large gathering at Strasburg, while Ewell's Division was in line 
of battle to keep back Fremont until all of Jackson's troops could 
pass the threatened point — and that on that whole campaign I 
never found the men too weary to assemble promptly for the 
evening service. Indeed, we accustomed ourselves to make 
sermons on the march to preach when we should go into 
bivouac in the evening, and, while in some respects it was 
serraonizing under difficulties, I doubt if we ever made better 
sermons than under the inspiration of the circumstances which 
surrounded us and the consciousness that w^e were preparing to 
deliver the last message of salvation which many of those brave 
fellows would ever hear. 

The morning of the battle of Cross Keys a large part of Ezley's 
Brigade assembled at lialf-past seven A. M. to hear a sermon 
from the efficient chaplain of the Twenty-fifth Virginia Regiment 
(my honored brother, Dr. George B. Taylor), who, being satisfied 
that a battle was imminent, determined to deliver one more mes- 
sage for his Master. 

In the midst of his sermon the preacher was interrupted by the 
colonel of his regiment, who told him that the enemy was advanc- 
ing and the battle about to open. Soon the shock of battle suc- 
ceeded the invitations of the Gospel, and men were summoned 
from that season of worship into the presence of their Judge. 

After the battle of Port Republic, while we were resting in 
the beautiful valley preparatory to marching to " Seven Days 
around Richmond," we had some delightful meetings, and on 
the march we had frequent seasons of worship. I preached in a 
grove near Louisa Court House, and again at Ashland, I well 
remember, to deeply interested congregations, and as I mingled 
among our wounded at Cold Harbor (where on the 27th of June, 
1862, my regiment, the Thirteenth Virginia, carried into action 
306 men and lost 175, killed and wounded), I found a number 
who referred to those meetings and expressed themselves as 
deeply affected by them. 



252 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

Rev. Dr.. R. L. Dabney was a gallant and efficient officer on 
Jackson's staff, and often preached to the men at head-quarters, 
and in their camps and bivouacs as opportunity offered. On 
this march he preached a very able sermon on " Special Provi- 
dence," in the course of which he used this emphatic language : 
" Men, you need not be trying to dodge shot or shell or minnie. 
Every one of these strikes just wliere the Lord peinnits it to strike^ 
and nowhere else, and you are perfectly safe where the missiles 
of death fly thickest until Jehovah permits you to be stricken." 

Major Nelson, of General Ewell's staff, one of the bravest of 
the brave and an humble Christian and devout churchman, heard 
that sermon and did not fully endorse what he called its " ex- 
treme Calvinism." 

During the battle of Malvern Hill General Jackson rode, as 
was his wont, into the very hottest of the fire, and for some time 
he and his staff sat on their horses at a point at Avhich there was 
a converging artillery fire; but" "old Stonewall" seemed to be 
entirely oblivious of it until one of his couriers was killed, when 
he turned to his staff and told them to dismount and shelter 
themselves. Dr. Dabney chanced to be near a very large, thick, 
oak gate-post and he very wisely got behind that, sitting bolt 
upright with his back against it. Soon after he had assumed 
this position Major Nelson rode up to bring some message from 
General Ewell to General Jackson, and with a soldier's keen eye 
at once took in the situation. Delivering his message, he at once 
rode straight to Dr. Dabney and, with a graceful military salute, 
said : " Major Dabney, every shot and shell and minnie strikes 
just zvhere the Lord permits. And you must excuse me, sir, for 
expressing my surprise that you are seeking to put an oak gate- 
post between you and ^Special Providence! " 

But the great theologian was fully equal to the occasion, and 
at once replied : " Why, major, you do not understand the doc- 
trine of ' Special Providence.' I believe and teach it with all my 
heart, and L look 7ipon this thick gate-post as a very ' Special Provi- 
dence ' J2ist at this juncture!' 

I remember that, remaining for a season with the wounded in 
the field hospitals after Cold Harbor and Gaines's Mill, I rejoined 
the command just after the line of battle was formed in front of 
General McClellan's position at Harrison's Landing (Westover), 
and General Ewell said to me pleasantly: " I have not seen you 
preaching, or heard the songs of your prayer-meetings for several 




"I LOOK UPON THIS GATE-POST AS A VERY 'SPECIAL PROVIDENCE' 

JUST AT THIS JUNCTURE." 
Christ in the Camp."— Page 252. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 253 

days, and I have missed them." I explained that I had been 
back in our hospitals looking after our wounded, and that my 
regiment had more men back there than in front just then, but 
that I was going to have a service as soon as I could assemble 
the men. And so we soon had a very tender, precious service 
in full hearing of the enemy's lines. 

Some of the meetings we held around Richmond when we 
came back from Harrison's Landing — around Gordonsville when 
Jackson went to meet Pope — in line of battle at Cedar Run — 
and on the march to Second Manassas — were of deep solemnity 
and great interest, but I must pass them by at present. 

The morning that Early's Brigade was relieved from its 
perilous position on the north bank of the Rappahannock near 
the Fauquier White Sulphur Springs, where for twenty-four 
hours we faced the whole of Pope's army with an impassable 
river, swollen by a sudden storm, in our rear, one of the largest 
congregations I ever saw promptly assembled on an intimation 
that there would be preaching. I never saw the army massed 
within as small a space as at that point. General Lee had pur- 
posed crossing his whole army over at the Springs, and by a rapid 
march on Warrenton and the railroad to plant himself firmly on 
General Pope's line of retreat. General Early was thrown 
across as the advance guard, but the severe storm made the river 
unfordable, and as we had no pontoon-bridges the movement 
had to be abandoned. So men from many other commands as 
well as our own came to our service until, when I stood up to 
preach, I seemed to look on a solid acre of eager listeners. 

An artillery duel was going on across the river and an occa- \ 
sional shell would shriek overhead or fall near by, but the ser- 
vice went on, regardless of that strange church music until, as 
we were singing the last hymn before the service, an immense 
rifle-shell fell in the centre of the congregation, a few feet from 
where the preacher was standing. It fell just between Colonel 
(afterwards General) James A. Walker and Captain Lewis N. 
Huck, of the Thirteenth Virginia, and found just space enough 
to wedge its way in between their legs without striking either. 
It was a "cap shell," the reverse end struck, and it simply buried 
itself in the soft ground, threw dirt on all around, but did not 
explode. There was, of course, a moving back from that spot, 
as it was supposed that the shell would explode, but the leader 
of the singing lost no note, his clear, ringing voice did not trem- 



N. 



254 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

ble, the song was sung through, the preacher announced his 
text, and the service would have gone on despite the interrup- 
tion. But Colonel Walker stepped up to the chaplain and told 
him if he would suspend the service he would move the brigade 
back under the hill where it would be more sheltered. Accord- 
ingly the announcement was made to the congregation, the bene- 
diction was pronounced, and we moved back under cover. As we 
moved out a shell exploded in an artillery company in our rear 
and killed or wounded five men. The service was resumed. I 
preached (from the text, ''Except ye repent ye shall all likewise 
perish ") as plainly and earnestly as I could. At " early dawn " 
the next morning we started on that famous flank march of " Jack- 
son's Foot Cavalry," which culminated in the battle of Second 
Manassas, and many of our poor fellows heard their last sermon 
that day on the Rappahannock. 

I went back that afternoon to the spot where we had our ser- 
vice, and found that after we moved at least twenty shells had 
fallen and exploded in the space occupied by that congrega- 
'-tion. 

When the orders for moving came to A. P. Hill's Corps near 
Fredericksburg in June, 1863, and put the column in motion for 
Gettysburg, they found Chaplains J. J. Hyman and E. B. Barrett, 
of Georgia, engaged in baptizing in Massaponax Creek some of 
the converts in the revival which had begun in their regiments, 
and which did not cease during the bloody campaign which 
followed, and as the result of which a memorable scene was 
enacted near Hagerstown, Maryland, on Sunday, June 29, 1863. 

The banks of the historic Antietam were lined with an immense 
crowd of Confederate soldiers. But they came not in " battle 
array " — no opposing host confronted them — no cannon belched 
its hoarse thunder — and the shriek of shell and the whistle of 
the minnie were unheard. Instead of these, sweet strains of the 
songs of Zion were wafted on the breeze, and the deepest 
solemnity pervaded the gathered host as one of the chaplains led 
down into the historic stream fourteen veterans who a few 
months before had fought at Sharpsburg, and were now enlisting 
under the banner of the Cross. 

Several times during the revival in Gordon's Georgia Brigade 
in the autumn of 1863, Rev. T. H. Pritchard, of North Carolina, 
or Rev. Andrew Broaddus, of Kentucky, who were laboring in 
this brigade, administered the ordinance of baptism in the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 255 

Rapidan in full view and easy range of the pickets on the oppo- 
site side. Not many of the men were permitted to attend for 
fear of attracting the fire of the enemy. But General Gordon 
himself was always present — his tall form presenting a tempting 
target to the sharpshooters on the north bank of the river. To 
the credit of " the men in blue," let it be said, however, they 
never fired at this time upon any of these baptismal parties, but 
contented themselves with looking on in mute wonder while the 
solemn ordinance was administered. Upon two occasions at the 
same period I baptized in the Rapidan in full view of the pickets 
on the other side, and with no apprehension of interruption from 
them. 

On the bloody campaign from the Rapidan to Cold Harbor in 
1864, when the army was constantly in the trenches or on the 
march, and fought almost daily, Bryan's Georgia Brigade had a 
season of comparative repose, while held in reserve, when they 
had from three to five meetings a day, which resulted in about 
fifty professions of conversion, most of whom Rev. W. L. Curry, 
the efficient chaplain of the Fiftieth Georgia Regiment, baptized 
in a pond which was exposed to the enemy's fire, and where 
several men were wounded while the ordinance was being 
administered. 

Major Robert Stiles, of Richmond, in an address delivered in 
1869 before the Male Orphan Asylum of Richmond, related an 
incident which illustrates the point I am making, and which I 
will not mar by condensing, but give in his own eloquent words: 

" One of the batteries of our own battalion was composed 
chiefly of Irishmen from a Southern city — gallant fellows, but 
wild and reckless. The captaincy becoming vacant, a backwoods 

Georgia preacher, named C , was sent to command them. The 

men, at first half-amused, half-insulted, soon learned to idolize 
as well as fear their preacher captain, who proved to be, all in 
all, such a man as one seldom sees, a combination of Praise-God 
Barebones and Sir Philip Sidney, with a dash of Hedley Vicars 
about him. He had all the stern grit of the Puritan, with much 
of the chivalry of the Cavalier, and the zeal of the Apostle. 
There was at this time but one other Christian in his battery, a 
gunner named Allan Moore, also a backwoods Georgian, and a 
noble, enthusiastic man and soldier. The only other living 
member of Moore's family was with him, a boy of not more than 
twelve or thirteen years, and the devotion of the elder brother to 



256 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

the younger was as tender as a mother's. The little fellow was 
a strange, sad, prematurely old child, who seldom talked and 
never smiled. He used to wear a red zouave fez that ill-befitted 
that peculiar, sallow, pallid complexion of the piney-woods 
Georgian ; but he was a perfect hero in a fight. 'Twas at Cold 
Harbor in 1864. We had been all day shelling a working party 
of the enemy, and about sunset, as adjutant of the battalion, I 
was visiting the batteries to arrange the guns for night-firing. 

As I approached C 's position, the sharpshooting had almost 

ceased, and down the line I could see the figures of the cannon- 
eers standing out boldly against the sky. Moore was at the 
trail, adjusting his piece for the night's work. His gunnery had 
been superb during the evening, and his blood was up. I 
descended into a little valley and lost sight of the group, but 

heard C 's stern voice: * Sit down, Moore, your gun is well 

enough ; the sharpshooting isn't over yet. Get down.' I rode 
to the hill. ' One moment, captain. My trail's a hair's-breadth 
too much to the right;' and the gunner bent eagerly over the 
handspike. A sharp report — that unmistakable crash of the 
bullet against the skull, and all was over. 'Twas the last rifle- 
shot on the lines that night. The rushing together of the de- 
tachment obstructed my view ; but as I came up, the sergeant 
stepped aside and said, * Look there, adjutant.' Moore had 
fallen over on the trail, the blood gushing from his wound all 
over his face. His little brother was at his side instantly. No 
wildness, no tumult of grief He knelt on the earth, and lifting 
Moore's head onto his knees, wiped the blood from his forehead 
with the cuff of his own tattered shirt-sleeve, and kissed the pale 
face again and again, but very quietly. Moore was evidently 
dead, and none of us cared to disturb the child. Presently he 
rose — quiet still, tearless still — gazed down on his dead brother, 
then around at us, and, breathing the saddest sigh I ever heard, 
said just these words : 'Well, I am alone in the world.' The 
preacher-captain instantly sprang forward, and placing his hand 
on the poor boy's shoulder, said solemnly, but cheerfully: * No, 
my child, you are not alone, for the Bible says, " When my 
father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up," 
and Allan was both father and mother to you : besides, Lm 
going to take you up, too ; you shall sleep under my blanket to- 
night' There was not a dry eye in the group; and when, months 
afterwards, the whole battalion gathered on a quiet Sabbath 




I AM ALONE IN THE WORLD. 



' Christ in the Camp,"-— Page 256. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 257 

evening on the banks of the Appomattox, to witness a baptism, 

and C at the water's edge tenderly handed this child to the 

officiating minister and, receiving him again when the ceremony 
was over, threw a blanket about the little shivering form, car- 
ried him into the bushes, changed his clothing, and then reap- 
peared, carrying the bundle of wet clothes, and he and the child 
walked away hand in hand to camp — then there were more tears, 
manly, noble, purifying tears ; and I heard the sergeant say, 
' Faith ! the captain has fulfilled his pledge to that boy.' My 
friends, hear the plea of the orphan : * I am alone in the world.' 
How will you answer it ? What will you do with it ? Will you 
pass my noble Georgian's pledge to 'take him up?' Will you 
keep it as he kept it ? " 

A missionary to Featherston's Mississippi Brigade writes of 
conducting religious services while the pickets were fighting 
heavily six hundred yards in front, and with^balls falling all 
around. Preaching was heard with eagerness, penitents were 
numerous, and seventeen young converts were baptized. 

I knew of several instances on the Petersburg lines where men 
were wounded in congregations which remained quiet while the 
preacher continued his sermon. 

We were blessed with a comparatively quiet Sabbath at Cold 
Harbor in June, 1864, and the chaplains generally availed them- 
selves of the opportunity to hold frequent services. I preached 
four times that day to very large and deeply solemn congrega- 
tions. The service at sundown was especially impressive. It 
was held on the very ground over which the grand charge of the 
Confederates was made on the memorable 27th of June, 1862, 
and was attended by an immense crowd. It was a beautiful 
Sabbath eve, and all nature seemed to invite to peace and repose. 
But the firing of the pickets in front — the long rows of stacked 
muskets — the tattered battle-flags which rippled in the evening 
breeze — and the very countenances of those stern veterans of an 
hundred battles, who now gathered to hear the Gospel of Peace 
on the very ground where two years before they had joyfully 
obeyed the order of their iron chief to "sweep the field with the 
bayonet " — all told of past conflicts, betokened impending battle 
and stirred the soul of preacher and hearer to an earnestness 
seldom attained. There were earnest faces and glistening tears, 
and when at the close of the sermon those desiring the prayers 
of God's people were invited to come forward, there were over 
17 



258 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

200 who promptly responded, a number of whom professed faith 
in Christ before leaving the ground. 

In that long line of nearly forty miles of entrenchments ex- 
tending from north and west of Richmond to Hatcher's Run 
and Five Forks below Petersburg, the opportunities for preach- 
ing and other religious services were varied. Some parts of the 
line were subjected to almost constant fire from the enemy, and 
the men could never assemble outside of the " bomb-proofs " — 
but other parts were sufficiently distant from the enemy's lines 
to allow the men to assemble even outside of the trenches. A 
large number of comfortable chapels were erected — more would 
have been built but for the scarcity of timber — and where the 
men could not assemble in crowds there were precious seasons 
of prayer and praise and worship in the " bomb-proofs." 

Let me try to picture several scenes as specimens of our daily 
work along the Petersburg lines. One day I went to Wise's 
Brigade, stationed in the trenches near the Appomattox, at a 
point where the lines of the enemy were so close that it was 
almost certain death to show your head above the parapet. As 
I went into the lines I saw what I frequently witnessed. An 
immense mortar shell (the men used to call them " lamp-posts ") 
would fly overhead, and some ragged " gray -jacket" would ex- 
claim, " That is my shell ! That is my shell ! " and would 
scarcely wait for the smoke from its explosion to clear away be- 
fore rushing forward to gather the scattered fragments, which he 
would sell to the ordnance officer for a few cents a pound (Con- 
federate money), to help eke out his scant rations. Entering 
the trenches I soon joined my gallant friend, Major John R. 
Bagby, of the Thirty-Fourth Virginia Regiment, who accompa- 
nied me down the lines as we distributed tracts and religious 
newspapers, and talked with the men concerning the great sal- 
vation. There was a good deal of picket-firing going on at the 
time, the minnie-balls would whistle by our ears, and (forgetful 
of Dr. Dabney's application of the doctrine of " Special Provi- 
dence ") I found myself constantly dodging to the no small 
amusement of the men. At last we came to a man who was the 
fortunate possessor of a frying-pan, and the still more fortunate 
possessor of something to fry in it. As we stood near, a minnie 
struck in the centre of his fire and threw ashes all around. He 
moved about as much as I should have done to avoid smoke, 
and went on with his culinary operations, coolly remarking: 



^ 



iKL. '^ 







DISTRIBUTING TRACTS IN THE TRENCHES. 
" Christ in the Camp." — Page 258. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 259 

" Plague take them fellows. I 'spect they'll spile my grease yet 
before they stop their foolishness." Soon after, the major looked 
at his watch and proposed that we should go into one of the 
" bomb-proofs " and join in the noonday prayer-meeting. I am 
afraid that some other feeling besides a devotional spirit 
prompted me to acquiesce at once. But when we went in we 
found the large ** bomb-proof " filled with devout worshippers, 
and it proved one of the most tender, precious meetings I ever 
attended. If I mistake not Rev. John W. Ryland (then orderly 
sergeant of the King and Queen Company) led the singing, and 
they sang, with tender pathos which touched every heart, some 
of those old songs which dear old " Uncle Sam Ryland " used to 
sing, and which were fragrant with hallowed memories of 
" Bruington." (I wonder if " Uncle Sam " is not now singing, 
with Richard Hugh Bagby and other loved ones, some of those 
same old songs, for surely they were sweet enough for even the 
heavenly choir.) 

I might write columns about those services in the trenches, 
but I can find space now for only one other incident. In the 
summer of 1864 I preached a good deal in Wright's Georgia 
Brigade, where we had a precious revival, and a large number 
of professions of conversion. The brigade was stationed at a 
point where the opposing lines were some distance apart, and I 
used to stand on a plat of grass in front of the trenches while 
the men would gather close around me, or sit on the parapet 
before me. One night, with a full moon shedding its light upon 
us, we had an unusually large congregation and a service of 
more than ordinary interest and power. A large number came 
forward for prayer, there were a number of professions of faith 
in Christ, and at the close of the service I received nine for bap- 
tism, and had just announced that I would administer the ordi- 
nance in a pond near by at 9 o'clock the next morning, when 
the " long roll " beat, the brigade formed at once, and in a few 
minutes were on the march to one of the series of bloody bat- 
tles which we had that summer. Several days later the brigade 
returned to its quarters, and I went back to resume my meet- 
ings, and look up my candidates for baptism. I found, alas ! 
that out of the nine received three had been killed, two were 
wounded and one was a prisoner, so that there were only three 
left for me to baptize. 

The alacrity with which the men went to work to build chapels 



260 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

may be cited as an illustration of their eagerness to hear the 
Gospel. 

When we went into winter-quarters along the Manassas lines 
in the winter of 1861-62, a few of the commands had well con- 
structed chapels. I think the first one was built in the Seven- 
teenth Virginia Regiment, of which my old university friend, 
Rev. John L. Johnson (now the distinguished Professor of Eng- 
lish in the University of Mississippi), was chaplain. There was 
one also in the Tenth Virginia Infantry, of which Rev. S. S. 
Lambeth, of the Virginia Methodist Conference, was chaplain. 
In the Thirteenth Virginia Infantry we had a chapel and " par- 
sonage " under the same roof, and a well-selected circulating li- 
brary, which proved a great comfort and blessing to the men. 
Down on the Rappahannock the next winter there were a still 
larger number of chapels. I remember especially a large and 
very comfortable one in the '* Stonewall " Brigade, which General 
Jackson was accustomed to attend, and where I had the privi- 
lege of preaching one Sunday to a deeply attentive congrega- 
tion, and of watching with great interest the world-famous 
chief as he ** played usher " until the men were all seated, and 
then listened with glistening eyes to the old-fashioned Gospel 
in which he so greatly delighted. 

But the chapel-building reached its climax along the Rapidan 
in the winter of 1863-64, and along the Richmond and Peters- 
burg lines in the winter of 1864-65. 

The great revival which swept through our camps on the re- 
turn of the army from the Gettysburg campaign, and which re- 
sulted in the professed conversion of thousands and the quick- 
ened zeal of Christians generally, naturally produced a desire to 
have houses of worship during the winter. As soon as we went 
into winter-quarters the cry was raised in wellnigh every com- 
mand: *'We must have a chapel." No sooner said than done. 
The men did not wait to finish their own quarters before they 
went to work on " the church." They did not take months, 
weeks, days, or even hours, to discuss *' plans and specifica- 
tions." They held no " fairs " or " feasts " — a scanty feast their 
larders would have afforded — and they sent out no agents to 
collect money from " friends at a distance." Better than all 
this, they divided into suitable parties, and, with strong arms 
and glad hearts, they went to work themselves. Their axes 
rang through the woods — some cut logs for the body of the 



i 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 261 

building — others *' rove " slabs, some provided " ridge poles," 
and " weight poles," — and there were parties to do the hauling, 
put up the house and undertake *' the finer work." Never since 
the days of Nehemiah have men had a better " mind to work " 
on the walls of Zion, and in from two to six days the chapel 
was finished, and the men were worshipping God in a temple 
dedicated to his name. These chapels were not, of course, 
quite equal in architectural design or finish to the splendid edi- 
fices of some of our city churches. No frescoed ceilings de- 
lighted the eye — no brilliant gas-jets illuminated the house — no 
lofty spire pointed heavenward — no clear-sounding bell sum- 
moned to cushioned seats elegantly attired ladies or fashionably 
dressed men — and no pealing notes of the grand organ led the 
music. But rude as they were, the completion of these chapels 
was hailed with the liveliest manifestations of joy on the part 
of those who had helped to build them, and each one of them 
proved, indeed, " none other than the house of God and the 
gate of heaven." 

Rev. W. S. Lacy, of the Forty-Seventh North Carolina, thus 
writes of an evening service in his chapel : ** It was a solemn 
sight to see one of those earnest, crowded congregations by our 
feeble light in that rude chapel. We had no brilliant gas-jets, 
softened by shaded or stained glass. The hght was reflected 
from no polished surface or snowy wall ; one or two rough-look- 
ing specimens of candles (we thought them magnificent) adorned 
the pulpit, and, perhaps, three others were in the room, subject 
to the caprices of the wind. 

"A few torches in the fireplace filled the complement of light, 
and fully served to render the darkness visible. But there was 
a sort of spell in the flicker of those lights and the solemn still- 
ness of the vast crowds, and as they would flare the lurid gleam 
would reveal many an earnest face and brimming eye." 

There were forty chapels built along the Rapidan in the 
winter of 1863-64, and over sixty the next winter along the 
Richmond and Petersburg lines, notwithstanding the fact that at 
this last period timber was very scarce and transportation hard 
to obtain on a large part of the lines, and the men had to bring 
the lumber at great distances on their shoulders. 

In many of these chapels there were circulating libraries and 
daily prayer-meetings, Sunday-schools, literary societies. Young 
Men's Christian Association meetings, etc. And many of them 



262 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

answered the double purpose of church and school. Some few 
were taught to read and write. I remember one poor fellow, who 
said to me: " Oh! chaplain, if you will just teach me how to 
read, so that I can read God's word, and how to write, so that I 
can write to my wife, there is nothing in this world I will not do 
for you," and I shall never forget what a proud fellow he was 
when in a very short time he had learned both to read his Bible 
and write to his wife. But I met during the four years of the 
war very few Confederate soldiers who could not read and write, 
and the schools established were generally for the study of 
Latin, Greek, mathematics, French, German, etc. There was, at 
the University of Virginia, during the session of 1865-66, prob- 
ably the most brilliant set of students ever gathered there at one 
time, and many of them were prepared to enter advanced classes 
by the schools taught in these army chapels by some of the best 
teachers ever sent out from this grand old university. The 
witty editor of the Richmond Christian Advocate (Dr. Lafiferty) 
once said of a certain State : " They already have there twelve 
' universities ; ' and at our latest advices they were chitting poles for 
another." We did not " cut poles " for " universities ; " but we 
had in our log chapels schools which, in the extent and thor- 
oughness of their teaching, were greatly superior to many of 
the so-called " universities " of the land to-day. 

I might write very fully of some of the glorious meetings we 
held in these chapels, but I have space for only one characteris- 
tic incident of that noble old soldier of the Cross, Rev. Andrew 
Broaddus (" Kentucky Andrew"). He went to labor in one of 
the brigade chapels in the winter of 1863, when he was told that 
he could accomplish nothing, as the large theatre which had 
been erected in the centre of the brigade was " drawing " large 
crowds, and would seriously diminish his congregations. But, 
with his accustomed zeal and pluck, the old man went to work, 
the Lord blessed his labors, and soon the chapel was crowded 
and the theatre deserted. In the great revival that followed, the 
owners of the theatre and some of the actors, professed conver- 
sion, the " plays " were suspended, and Brother Broaddus was 
invited to hold his services in the theatre, as that was a larger 
and more comfortable building than the chapel. He readily 
consented to do so, and begun his first service by saying, in his 
own quaint way : " My friends, I am only a plain old country 
Baptist preacher, and have been opposing theatres all of my life. 



263 

I never was in one before, and if any one had told me that the 
time would come, in my old age, when I should myself go tipoti 
the stage, I should have taken it as a personal insult. But the 
times change, and we change with them, and so I am here to- 
night, ready to occupy eve?i this position for the glory of God 
and the good of souls." It is scarcely necessary to add that 
the work went graciously and gloriously on, and that this thea- 
tre, at least, proved " a school of virtue," and a means of grace 
to many who attended on " the acting " of this grand old 
preacher of the Gospel. 



CHAPTER IX. 

STATE OF RELIGION IN 1 86 1-62. 

HAVING brought out, in previous chapters, the various 
instrumentahties and influences which were so potential 
in promoting rehgious influences in the army, it remains to give 
a chronological outline of the results upon the men, which have 
been already indicated, but need to be more distinctly related. 

During the first months of the war, the influences of home 
and church were decidedly felt, and riiade their impress upon the 
soldiers at the front. Nearly every community had its weekly 
union prayer-meeting. The pastors made frequent visits to the 
camps. Father and mother, and gentle sister, wrote frequent 
letters to the soldier-boy, breathing a spirit of humble piety, and 
urging him to read his Bible, observe his hours of secret prayer, 
and attend regularly such religious services as were within his 
reach. The army was flooded with religious tracts, newspapers, 
and books, nearly every regiment had its prayer-meeting, and 
the large number of Christian officers and men made themselves 
felt in the moral and religious status of the army. There were, 
at this period, not a large number of professions of conversion, 
though a few found Jesus in the camp or in the hospital, and 
there were a few sad cases of men making shipwreck of their 
faith; but it may be said that the Christian element fairly held 
its own and made some advance, and that there was at least 
as much religious zeal in the camps as among the Churches at 
home. 

I select only a kw extracts from newspaper reports, which 
illustrate the condition of things during the summer and autumn 
of i86i. 

A writer, speaking of the religious services in the Fourth North 
Carolina Regiment, says : 

" There are four ministers of the Gospel attached to this regi- 
ment. Sabbath before last a most solemn service was held at 
Garysburg. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was adminis- 
(264) 



RELIGION IN lee's ARMY. 265 

tered to the Christian professors of the regiment. The services 
were conducted by Rev. Captain Miller, aided by several other 
clergymen. The thought that it would probably be the last time 
in which some would participate in the ordinance, and that before 
another opportunity occurred they might be on the field of battle, 
affected every mind, and gave great tenderness to the meeting." 
" I have spent," says Rev. W. J. W. Crowder, " most of the time 
for several weeks among the soldiers, to whom I gave about 
200,000 pages of tracts, and had conversations on personal re- 
ligion with over 2,300 in th'eir camps and hospitals. I find many 
of them pious, daily reading the Bible and praying to God. But 
by far the largest portion of them are irreligious. In three com- 
panies, of about three hundred men, only seven were professors 
of religion, and there were but few Bibles and Testaments among 
them. A lady requested me to give for her all I had of the 
excellent tract, * Come to Jesus,' ;^ 10.76 worth ; a copy of which 
I gave to a soldier one Sunday morning, on which I marked the 
Ninety-first Psalm. The Sunday following, he wished me to sit 
with him in his tent. He stated that the tract caused him to get 
his Bible and read the psalm. On opening to it he was surprised 
to find a piece of paper pinned to this psalm, upon which was 
written in a beautiful hand, by his sister Emma, these lines : 

* When from home receding, 
And from hearts that ache to bleeding, 
Think of those behind who love thee ; 
Think how long the night will be 
To the eyes that weep for thee.' 

' God bless thee and keep thee.' 

"The melting tenderness before God in that tent cannot be 
expressed. Some of his mates were religious and ready to en- 
courage him in seeking salvation." 

The same useful man says that when he handed his tracts to 
the soldiers they would say : ** This is the kind of reading we 
want, to help us fulfil the promises we made to our wives, 
parents, sisters, ministers, and loved ones on leaving home, that 
we would seek God to be our guide and refuge." 

" Such expressions," he says, ** I have frequently heard from a 
great many of the more than 7,000 soldiers with whom I have 
talked on personal religion." 

A prominent officer came to Mr. C , and said : " I feel it my 

duty to say that the good influence exerted upon the minds and 
actions of our men by the Bibles, books and tracts you have 



266 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

sent us, is incalculable ; and, to my knowledge, they have been 
blessed of God in producing a spirit of religious inquiry with 
many of a most encouraging character. I trust you and Christian 
friends at home will continue to supply all our soldiers with this 
means of grace, which is so well adapted to our spiritual wants, 
and can be diffused among us as perhaps no other can so 
effectually." 

" A soldier," he says, " came to express his thanks for the 
saving influence of the tracts he had received since being in 
camp. He believes they were sent to him in answer to a pious 
mother's prayers. He stated that before leaving home he felt 
but little interest in religion, but now it is his delight and com- 
fort." 

"Another soldier, in a Mississippi regiment, writes that the 
tract, * Come to Jesus,' has been the means of leading him to 
Christ, since being in Virginia." 

" Many persons," says a writer from the Nineteenth Virginia 
Regiment, ''having relatives and friends in the army, are con- 
cerned about the religious privileges which we enjoy. A brief 
sketch of this feature of camp-life in the Nineteenth Regiment 
will doubtless be gratifying to them. Every night the voice of 
prayer and praise is heard in one or more of the tents, and on 
the Sabbath mornings and evenings, and on Wednesday nights, 
sermons are preached in a church in the immediate vicinity of 
the camp by the chaplain, the Rev. P. Slaughter, assisted by the 
Rev. Mr. Grififln. The interest of these services was much en- 
hanced on last Sunday by the celebration of the sacraments of 
Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and by the admission of three 
officers to their first communion. Many hearty prayers were 
offered that they may manfully fight under the banner of the 
Cross, and continue Christ's faithful soldiers until their lives end. 
It is encouraging to see the disposition of those in command to 
furnish facilities for public worship, and the alacrity of the men 
in responding to every call, marching to church sometimes in 
double-quick time, lest they should fail to get seats. Let those 
who remain in their pleasant homes remember the soldier on the 
tented field. He needs the grace of God to enable him to bear 
patiently the toils and sufferings of the campaign, even more than 
to face the enemy in the field." 

Good tidings came from many other portions of the army. 
Scenes like the following became more frequerit every week : 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 267 

*' For more than a week a revival has been in progress among 
the soldiers stationed at Ashland. Services are held every night 
in the Baptist church, and the seats set apart for the anxious are 
frequently wellnigh filled by the soldiers, who are asking for the 
prayers of God's people. Rev. W. E. Hatcher, of Manchester, 
preaches every night. At Aquia creek thirty have professed 
conversion within a few weeks, a number of whom were baptized 
in the Potomac by Rev. Geo. F. Bagby, a chaplain. The entire 
regiment with which the converts were connected turned out to 
witness the ceremony. Our informant says he has never looked 
upon a more lovely and impressive scene. We understand that 
a protracted meeting is in progress in Colonel Gary's regiment, 
and that Rev. Andrew Broaddus, of Caroline, is officiating. We 
hear of another revival in which twelve soldiers professed con- 
version, five of whom united with the Methodists, four with the 
Baptists, and the remainder with the Presbyterians. The religious 
community of the Confederate States ought to feel encouraged 
by these tokens of the Divine power to put forth still greater 
efforts in behalf of the spiritual welfare of our army. Fully o?ie- 
tJiiid of the soldiers are destitute of a copy of the New Testament, 
and of all other religious reading." 

From Fairfax Court House, Rev. J. M. Carlisle wrote, to a re- 
ligious paper at Richmond : 

"As chaplain of the Seventh Regiment, South Carolina Vol- 
unteers, I desire to return thanks to certain unknown parties, in 
your city, for a donation of religious books and tracts forwarded 
to me for distribution among the soldiers. They were gladly 
received, and are being generally read, and I trust will be a posi- 
tive good. May the blessing of God be upon those whose gift 
they are." 

But there came, soon after the first battle of Manassas, and 
during the long inactivity which followed it, a period of demoral- 
ization which was unequalled by any witnessed during the war. 
Our people generally thought that this great victory had virtually 
ended the war — that before the spring England and France would 
recognize the Confederacy, and the North be forced to acknowl- 
edge our independence. Many people at home quit praying and 
went to speculating in the necessaries of life, coining money out 
of the sufferings of soldiers and people, and the demoralization 
soon extended to the army. The vices common to most armies 
ran riot through our camps. Drunkenness became so common 



268 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

as to scarcely excite remark, and many who were temperate, and 
some who were even total abstinence leaders at home, fell into 
the delusion that drinking- was excusable, if not necessary, in the 
army. 

The drunken brawls of even high ofiicers were the common 
talk around the camp-fires, and the men of the rank and file 
claimed the privilege of imitating their leaders. 

In a debate in the Confederate Senate on the proposition to 
cashier every officer found to be drunk, either on or off duty, 
Hon. Wm. L. Yancey, of Alabama, said: That, from his observa- 
tion, he had come to the conclusion that drunkenness was not 
only tJie vice of the army, but of the country. Drinking from 
12 M. to 12 midnight was habitual, and among those who called 
themselves gentlemen the vice was extensive. Ours is a popular 
army, and if we find drunkenness in it, nothing more can be ex^ 
pected when the vice is so extensive among the people. Abroad, 
he had read the unvarnished statement of a Richmond paper, 
which brought the blush of shame to the friends of the country. 
He doubted its truth, but after travelling the length of the country 
he was convinced of its truth, and had arrived at the conclusion 
that drunkenness was the vice of the country. 

An army surgeon, writing to the Richmond Dispatch respect- 
ing the prevalence of drunkenness in the army, says : " I was 
greatly astonished to find soldiers in Virginia, whom I had 
known in Georgia as sober, discreet citizens, members of different 
Churches, some deacons and official members, even preachers, in 
the daily and constant habit of drinking whiskey for their 
health." 

The chaplain of the Twenty-third North Carolina Regiment 
writes from the camp between Union Mills and Centreville.to the 
Biblical Recorder ,-..." If we ever meet with a defeat in this 
army, it will be in consequence of drunkenness. Young men 
that never drank at home are using spirits freely in camp. I 
fear that while Lincoln may slay his thousands, the liquor-maker 
at home will slay his tens of thousands!' 

A Southern editor wrote, on this subject : *' The prevalence of 
vice, of drunkenness and profanity in our camps on the Potomac 
and elsewhere is attributable to the officers themselves. A large 
number of the officers of our Southern army are both profane 
and hard drinkers, where they are not drunkards. It has been 
prophesied that the South will lose the next battle on the. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 269 

Potomac, and lose it by drunken officers. We are satisfied that 
God alone can prevent it. If the battle soon to transpire near 
Manassas is lost, we shall be satisfied that wJiiskey whipped our 
men!' 

Another correspondent writes fi-om Centreville to the Ce7ttral 
Presbyterian : ** There is an appalling amount of drunkenness in 
our army. Not, I believe, so much among the common soldiers 
as with the officers, high as well as low. Too many of our gen- 
erals, and colonels, and majors, and captains, lieutenants and 
sui;geons (I am tempted to say especially the surgeons) are noto- 
rious drunkards. During the bad weather of winter, the army 
lying idle, the temptation to excessive drink is a hundredfold 
greater than in the summer months." 

Another correspondent writes of the condition of things at this 
period : 

"A general officer fell from his horse while reviewing his 
troops, and lay drunk in his quarters for weeks, without losing 
his command. * I speak that which I do know, and testify to 
that whereof I have seen,' in reference to this matter; for many a 
weary hour did I pace the sentinel's beat in front of those head- 
quarters, my only orders being * to prevent any one from dis- 
turbing the general ' — i. e., in his drunken slumbers. 

" I remember one night, about 2 o'clock, I was impatiently 
pacing my beat with a feeling of profound disgust that my bright 
anticipations of 'the pomp and circumstance of glorious war' had 
degenerated into the mean avocation of guarding a drunken 
general, when there came along a huge six-footer, belonging to 
an artillery company, who had aboard enough * apple-jack ' to 
make him merry. When he drew near he yelled out an invita- 
tion to the general to come out and take a drink with him. I 
rushed up, musket in hand, commanded him to be silent, and 
threatened to call the sergeant of the guard and send him to the 
guard-house, if he repeated the offence. He proceeded to argue 
the case with me, saying that he had in his canteen some of the 
best ' apple-jack ' that had ever been produced, and that I knew, 

as well as he did, that if 'General ' ever got a taste of 

that, he would not allow the man that brought it to be molested. 
Seeing thatT was inexorable, he sadly said: 'Now, sentinel, I 
leave it to you if this is not a hard case. A brigadier-general, 
with all his high responsibilities, gets drunk on duty, falls off 
his horse, and lies drunk in his quarters with a sentinel to keep 



270 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

anybody from disturbing him ; but, if a poor private gets a drop 
too much, you talk about sending him to the guard-house. Is 
this fair ? Is it justice ? Is it in accord with the great principles 
of constitutional freedom, for which we are fighting?' 

*' I told him that I could not answer his argument — that, in 
fact, I fully agreed with him — but that, inasmuch as I would be 
sent to the guard-house if I did not obey my -instructions, I 
hoped he w^ould see that I must enforce order, and would go 
peaceably to his quarters. He finally went, but muttering as he 
went : ' I certainly would like to have an opportunity of giving 

old a swig at my canteen, for I think he would promote 

me to a place on his staff after he found out what nectar I can 
bring in after a forage.' " 

At this period the ear was greeted on all sides with the most 
horrid profanity, and " the army in Flanders " could surely not 
have beaten the army at Manassas in this senseless vice. 

Gambling became so common, so open, and so unrebuked, 
that men wearing " the bars," and even *' the stars," of rank would 
win from the private soldier his scant pay, which he ought to 
have sent home to his suffering family. 

I remember that some men in one of the companies of my 
own regiment captured at the battle of Manassas a regular " faro 
bank " with all its appurtenances, and not long after opened it in 
one of the tents. It had been doing for some time a thriving 
business, attracting officers and men from all of the surrounding 
commands, when one day Colonel A. P. Hill sent for the officer 
of the guard, and ordered him to take a file of men, surround the 
tent, capture " the bank," and arrest and bring before him all of 
the players. I happened to be on the detail, and it fell to my lot 
to stand at the door of the tent and arrest all who attempted to 
escape. The first man who tried to pass me was a promi- 
nent politician, who was known also to be " fond of a little game," 
and was said to be remarkably successful in " fighting the tiger," 
and who, being in camp on a visit to his son, could. not resist 
the temptation of " taking a hand." It was reported that he was 
at the moment of our raid a large winner, and insisted that the 
officer of the guard should wait until the dealer could "cash his 
chips," but this being refused he hustled up to the door and 
started to pass out, saying : ** I am a citizen, sir, and a member 
of the Legislature. You have no right to molest me." 

" I cannot help what your position is, sir," I replied, " but 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 271 

more's the pity if you are violating the law against gambling which 
you helped to make, or at least are sworn to support. My orders 
are imperative, and you cannot pass." 

" I will do so, sir ; you have no right to arrest a citizen," he 
retorted, as he attempted to push by me. 

But when I brought my gun to a ** charge bayonets,', and 
threatened to put my bayonet in him if he attempted to " force 
the guard," he desisted with loud protests and imprecations, and 
we marched the whole party up to Colonel Hill's quarters, the 
Hon. Mr. Law-maker (and law-breaker) heading the column. 

Oh ! for one day of A. P. Hill — the chivalrous soldier who 
ahuays did his duty — in our towns and cities now, that he might 
close the vile gambling dens which our city authorities can never 
find, but which (unless they are shamefully slandered) some of 
our law-makers (and lazv-breakers) do find, to their shame and 
ruin. 

At this period the sanctity of the Sabbath was recognized by 
but few — many professed Christians made shipwreck of their 
faith and became ringleaders in every species of vice — and 
wickedness of every description held high carnival in our camps. 

Comparatively little was done to counteract these evil influ- 
ences. There were at this time but few chaplains in the army, 
and it must be confessed that some of these were utterly worth- 
less, and that but few of them appreciated the importance or the 
fruitfulness of the field if properly cultivated. There were excep- 
tions to this, and here and there faithful labors were crowned 
with some measure of success. But the general moral picture 
of the army during the autumn of i86i, and the winter of i86i- 
62, was dark indeed. 

A faithful chaplain thus put it, in a letter to the Religions 
Herald: _ 

" But, O ! brethren, the great trial of being in the' army is not 
its hard bread, its weary marches, its cheerless bivouacs, or even 
its absence from the loved ones at home. It is the having to 
see and hear, all the time, such abounding wickedness. One 
constantly has his blood curdled by oaths you can't conceive, or 
hears foul language that makes him blush for his common hu- 
manity. Often, though not so * righteous ' as Lot, like Lot, he 
has his * soul vexed ' at the wickedness of those around him, and 
like the patriarch cries, ' O that I had wings like a dove, that I 



272 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

might fly away and be at rest' He learns to feel that the 
sweetest element of that ' rest ' which * remaineth for the people 
of God,' next to freedom from personal sin, is the being where 
* the wicked cease from troubling,' He realizes the necessity, for 
the happiness of the good, that * the wicked shall be driven away 
in his wickedness ; ' he feels that sin itself, in its last results, will 
itself be a hell. 

" Do not think I exaggerate the sin of the army, or intimate 
that there are not many men there who are good, aye, better for 
being there. But in the army many wicked men are massed to- 
gether, and many of the restraints to sin — such as the family, the 
society of children and females, the Sunday-school and Church — 
are largely removed, so that the sin which was in the heart be- 
fore, which is in the hearts of those at home, is simply developed. 
If the world is the theatre where God is showing the universe 
what sin is, war is one of the scenes where the illustration is most 
perfect. It is frequently said that the war will end when the nation 
is better, as if the ungodly were at least to be partially purified 
and raised to a higher moral status. Is not this a false view ? Do 
not the bad ever (/. e., while impenitent) ' wax worse and worse?' 
Is there any way for any society to improve but for men to be 
converted and for Christians to * grow in grace ? ' Outside of this, 
is not the morality of society getting worse ? This war is like 
any affliction, in that it makes those who suffer from it better or 
worse. This is realized with reference to the soldier, but I fear 
not with reference to the loved ones at home, and by them. 
They are sufferers, too. Are they thinking more of the war's 
ending, or of being made better by it? God help the man or 
woman who comes out of it no better ! God have mercy on him 
who turns God's very rod into a lever by which to improve his 
earthly condition and pamper his lusts. Ah ! I have seen some 
hardened by this war, and I fear God will say of them : ' I tried 
to make them better, and they transmuted my very discipline 
into a means of indulgence. They have their choice. I will 
" let them alone.'" O reader! is the war making you better? 

" Chaplain." 

The Confederate disasters of the early part of 1862 brought 
our people once more to their knees, and the active campaign 
which followed very decidedly improved the religious tone of the 
army. As men stood amid the leaden and iron hail of battle, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 273 

saw comrades fall thick and fast around them, and were made to 
feel, " There is but a step between me and death," they were 
brought to serious reflection and solemn resolve. Earnest men 
and noble women were untiring in the hospitals in pointing the 
sick and wounded to the Great Physician, and God richly blessed 
their efforts. 

Some of the more incompetent chaplains were sloughed off 
when they found that there was real work to be done and hard- 
ship and danger to be met Some noble, self-sacrificing workers 
were added to our number, and all were stirred up to their 
duty by the solemn scenes in which they were called to min- 
ister. 

We had some precious seasons of worship from the day that 
old " Stonewall " electrified the Confederacy with his famous 
dispatch : " God blessed our arms with victory at McDowell;" all 
through the Valley campaign; Seven Days around Richmond; 
Cedar Run; Second Manassas, and The first Maryland cam- 
paign; and there were a number of professions of conversion, 
while backsliders were reclaimed and careless professors awak- 
ened to their duty. 

But when we came back from Sharpsburg to rest for a season 
amid the green fields and beautiful groves, and beside the clear 
streams of the lower Valley of Virginia, there began that series 
of revivals which went graciously and gloriously on until there 
had been over fifteen thousand professions of conversion in 
Lee's Army, and there had been wrought a moral and religious 
revolution which those who did not witness it can scarcely ap- 
preciate. 

A South Carolina chaplain writes, from camp near Richmond, 
to the SoiitJiern Pi^esbytcTian : " I am both astonished and I trust 
grateful to see how attentively officers and men listen to the 
preached word, and how eagerly they read the tracts which I 
have been able to supply. It would gladden the heart of many 
a pious friend at home if they could be permitted to listen to the 
chorus of manly voices which blend in singing the sweet songs 
of Zion amid the green trees of our bivouac. The tone of morality 
is much higher than I dared to hope." 

The Riclunond Christian Advocate speaks hopefully of the state 

of religion in the army and the country. Of the former it says 

that numbers, including several prominent officers, are reported 

both from hospitals and camps as brought from death unto life. 

18 



274 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

It believes that religion among the people generally is in- 
creasing. 

A correspondent of the Christian Observer says : " It is a com- 
mon opinion that our young men in the army are very wicked, 
but, judging from what I have seen in various camps, the charge 
is utterly unfounded. It would seem that their privations and 
sufferings have been greatly sanctified to them ; and no doubt 
much is due to the labor of chaplains and colporters." 

A writer to the SoiitJiern Presbyterian, from the camp of the 
Sixth Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers, near Richmond, 
says : " I am happy to report to you the manifest tokens of the 
presence of the Spirit among us, even in these times of strife and 
battle. I do believe that these solemn visitations of Providence 
have been His chosen way of touching many a heart. There 
are earnest desires awakened in many a bosom, which I trust 
will lead them to the Cross, I believe there are many of our 
brave men lying on their hard pallets in the hospitals who are 
now secretly indulging a hope in Jesus ; and I console myself 
with the sweet thought that others, who have never told it, have 
died on the battle-field looking to their Saviour. I know there 
are dreadful exhibitions of deliberate wickedness, but Satan ever 
delights in placing his abominations in the porch of God's 
temple." 

Another writer, from Richmond, in the Southern Presbyterian, 
gives the following thrilling account of his experience in the recent 
battles near this city : " In the battle of the Seven Pines, in which 
we lost one-third of our regiment in about twenty minutes amid 
the most terrific shower of shot and shell of this whole war, the 
Lord not only so far sustained me as to enable me to stand up 
and do my duty to my country, but to do it without the least 
fear of anything that man could do unto me. Nor did I, as 
many men seem to do, lose sight of my personal danger. My 
mood was so calm that my calculations were perfectly rational. 
I felt that the Lord's hand was with me ; that His shield was 
over me, and that whatever befell me would be by His agency 
or permission, and therefore it would all be well with me. It was 
a period of positive religious enjoyment, and yet of the most 
vigorous discharge of my duties as a soldier. Again, at the battle 
of Gaines's Mill, or Cold Harbor, on Friday, June 27, the most 
furious of the whole series, and in which one-third of our regi- 
ment was reported as killed and wounded, I was visited with the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 275 

same peace of mind and the same resolute composure. The two 
battles leave me with nine perforations in my clothing, made by 
at least six balls ; a slight contusion from a piece of bomb, and a 
severe wound in my left thigh, a large ball passing clear through, 
ranging between the bone and the femoral artery. Upon receiv- 
ing it, I looked down and discovered the hemorrhage to be very 
copious. I was not only not afraid to die, but death seemed to 
me a welcome messenger. Immediately there came over my 
soul such a burst of the glories of heaven, such a foretaste of its 
joys, as I have never before experienced. It was rapturous and 
ecstatic beyond expression. The New Jerusalem seemed to rise 
up before me in all its beauty and attractiveness. I could almost 
hear the songs of the angels. My all-absorbing thought, how- 
ever, was about my Redeemer, whose arms were stretched out 
to receive me. So completely overwhelming and exclusive was 
the thought of heaven, that I was wholly unconscious of any tie 
that bound me to earth. I was still standing within a few steps 
of where I was wounded, and yet I utterly forgot my danger 
and thought of no means of preserving my life. There I stood 
in the midst of men, and where deadly missiles were flying thick 
and fast, and yet my thoughts were completely abstracted from 
everything around me. So fully was God's love shed abroad in 
my heart, and so delightful was the contemplation of the offices 
of the blessed Saviour, that I could think of nothing else. Now, 
how gracious it was in the Lord thus to grant me an experience 
which has made me thank Him a thousand times since for what 
has befallen me ! I will not call it an affliction, nor even a ' bless- 
ing in disguise'^ but the most clear, open, manifest blessing I have 
ever enjoyed. The intent, no doubt, was to let me know where 
my heart lay, and by unveiling the reward that awaits the faith- 
ful to stimulate me to renewed and ever-increasing obedience. 
The Lord has permitted me to live, and I bless Him for it. I 
bless Him for anything, everything. He may choose to allot me. 
Our enthusiasm about earthly objects must, of course, be far less 
intense than when heaven, with all its glories and beatitudes, is 
the subject of our contemplation." 

A few days since, a chaplain at Gordonsville said to Brother 
J. C. Clopton : " One hundred of the men in my regiment have 
professed conversion since we have been in the service, and the 
greater number spoke of your tracts as having been instrumental 
in leading them to Christ." Rev. W. L. Fitcher, our colporter in 



276 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

Petersburg, writes that over 300 have professed conversion in 
the hospitals of that city. A revival of religion is in progress in 
Lynchburg, and twenty were received into the Baptist Church 
of that city on Friday evening, on profession of faith in Christ. 
A pious man writes to us : " God is in the army. Many in my 
regiment have passed from death unto life." These things being 
so, should not Christians at home be encouraged to redouble 
their efforts in this direction ! Our fathers never enjoyed such 
facilities for doing good as are now presented us in the camps 
and hospitals, nor will those who come after, for centuries, see 
such an inviting field. — A. E. D. 

The following, dated Richmond, August 10, 1862, is from the 
pen of " Personal," army correspondent of the Charleston 
Courier : 

" Probably at no period of the war has the religious element 
in the army been more predominant than it is at present. In 
many instances, chaplains, army missionaries, colporters and 
tracts have accomplished great things ; but by far the most co- 
gent influences that have operated upon and subdued the reck- 
less spirit of the soldiery, are those which are born in the heart 
itself, upon the field of battle. There is something irresistible 
in the appeal which the Almighty makes when he strikes from 
your side, in the twinkling of an eye, your friend and comrade, 
and few natures are so utterly depraved as to entirely disregard 
the whisperings of the " still, small voice," which themselves so 
vividly heard at such a moment. Every man unconsciously 
asks himself, 'Whose turn will come next?' and when, at the 
termination of the conflict, he finds himself exempted from the 
awful fiat that has brought death to his very side and all around 
him, his gratitude to his Creator is alloyed, though it may be 
but dimly, with a holier emotion, which, for the time, renders 
him a wiser and a better man. In this aspect, the recent bat- 
tles have done more to make converts than all the homilies and 
exhortations ever uttered from the pulpit. A man who has stood 
upon the threshold of eternity while in the din and carnage of 
the fight, has listened to eloquence more fiery and impressive 
than ever came from mortal lips. 

" It is not strange, therefore, as you go through various camps, 
even on a week day, that your ears are here and there saluted 
with the melody of a choir of voices, rich, round and full, sung 
with all the seriousness and earnestness of true devotion; or, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 277 

that, before the lights are out in the evening, manly tones are 
heard in thanksgiving for the blessings of the day ; or, that the 
Bible and prayer-book are common books upon the mess-table ; 
or, that when Sunday comes, the little stand from which the 
chaplain is wont to discourse, is the centre of a cluster of inter- 
ested and pious listeners. 

" In many of the regiments much of this kindly influence is 
due to the pure and elevated character of the officers. Wher- 
ever "-hese are found, you invariably also find a neat, well-disci-- 
plined, orderly, quiet command, as prompt in the camp as they 
are brave upon the field. Now and then you may hear a taunt 
about ' our praying captain,' or ' colonel ; ' but even these 
thoughtless expressions come from men who venerate their 
officers and would follow them to the death. As you know, 
some of our ablest generals are men who have dropped the 
gown of the Christian for the apparel of the soldier. Polk was 
a bishop, Pendleton a clergyman, D. H. Hill a religious author, 
Jackson a dignitary of the Church, while scores of others occu- 
pying subordinate positions, are equally well known for their de- 
votion at the shrine of Christianity. All of these gentlemen 
have been eminently successful in whatever they have under- 
taken, have passed unharmed through the dangers by which 
they have been frequently environed, and are living illustrations 
of the truth that a fighting Christian is as terrible to his ene- 
mies as he is gentle to his friends. 

" General Jackson never enters a fight without first invoking 
God's blessing and protection. The dependence of this strange 
man upon the Deity seems never to be absent from his mind, 
and whatever he does or says, it is always prefaced, * by God's 
blessing.' In one of his official dispatches, he commences — ' By 
God's blessing we have to-day defeated the enemy.' Said one 
of his officers to him the other day — "Well, general, another 
candidate (referring to Pope) is waiting your attentions.' *' So I 
observe,' was the quiet reply ; * and by God's blessing he shall 
receive them to his full satisfaction.' 

"After a battle has been fought, the same rigid remembrance 
of Divine Power is observed. The army is drawn up in line, the 
general dismounts from his horse, and there in the presence of 
his rough, bronzed-face troops, with heads uncovered and bent 
awe-stricken to the ground, the voice of the good man, which 
but a few hours before was ringing out in quick and fiery into- 



278 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

nations, is now heard, subdued and calm, as if overcome by the 
presence of the Supreme Being, in holy appeal to * the sapphire 
throne.* Few such spectacles have been witnessed in modern 
times, and it is needless to add that few such examples have ever 
told with more wondrous power upon the hearts of men. Are 
you surprised, after this recital, that * Stonewall ' Jackson is in- 
vincible, and that he can lead his army to certain victory when- 
ever God's blessing precedes the act?" 

Rev. G. T. Gray, chaplain of a regiment stationed in western 
Virginia, writes to the Bristol Advocate that, several Sabbaths 
since, ** the sacrament was administered to all the field officers 
and staff except one, and to eight captains, and to upwards of 
one hundred other officers and privates. I doubt," he adds, " if 
the annals of war ever witnessed such another solemn scene." 

" Lynchburg, August 21, 1862. 

''Messrs. Editors : For .two weeks meetings have been held in 
the Baptist church here, and many indications of the Divine 
presence and blessing have been enjoyed. Thus far seven have 
been received into the Church. Rev. J. L. Johnson is one of the 
chaplains at this post, and is laboring with great zeal and effi- 
ciency. Brother G. C. Trevillian has been for some months our 
regular colporter to the hospitals here. There are at least 4,000 
sick and wounded, and a few weeks may bring as many more, as 
this is one of the principal points to which the wounded of the 
great army near Gordonsville are brought. 

*' At Lovingston, in Nelson, the government is establishing hos- 
pitals ; there are now about a thousand at that point. At Scotts- 
ville are several hundred sick and wounded, and about as many 
at Hillsborough, in Albemarle. I would like to have several 
additional tract distributers at these several points. 

" Rev. J. C. Hiden, chaplain at Charlottesville, gave me some 
interesting facts in reference to the hospitals in that town. He 
represents the men as being very eager to hear the Gospel and 
to secure religious reading-matter. 

" In Staunton, I found Brother Fry, our colporter, earnestly 
engaged. His labors have, indeed, been greatly blessed here 
and elsewhere. He gave me an interesting account of some 
conversations he had with General T. J. Jackson. On one occa- 
sion the general told him of several prominent officers who were 
sick, and urged him to go and converse with them on personal 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 279 

religion just as he would with the humblest private, adding 
that it was ' sad to see so many officers regardless of their eter- 
nal interests.' . . . 

"A. E. D." 

The chaplain of the Ninth. Georgia Regiment, in a letter from 
Richmond, July 8, to his parents, says: "We have a delightful 
religious revival progressing in our camps — in our regiment es- 
pecially." 

Rev. A. D. Cohen, chaplain of the Forty-sixth North Caro- 
lina Regiment, writes : 

. . . "At 4 o'clock we had another meeting. Our dear visit- 
ing brother preached a very appropriate sermon, very short, but 
comprehensive. I made a few remarks, and invited all who felt 
their need of a Saviour to manifest it by kneeling. Now, dear 
brother, I know that your heart would have been filled with 
gratitude, and your eyes would have run rivulets of tears of joy, 
to have seen so many of our brave and dauntless soldier-boys 
there, overpowered by the strength of their convictions, humbly 
and tearfully bowing their knees upon the bare ground, asking 
for prayer. At night we had a prayer-meeting, which our 
brother concluded by asking ' all those who were determined to 
try to meet him in heaven, to come up and shake his hand; and 
oh, how my heart burned when men (almost every man) came 
up with the big tears coursing down their cheeks, and their 
manly bosoms heaving with sobs of true repentance, I trust, and 
grasped our hands. 

"And then the sobs were audible as the man of God poured 
forth his fervent prayers for their conversion and their reunion 
in heaven. That brother, as well as every one present, will 
never forget our last Sabbath at that camp," 

Elder J. J. Hyman, army chaplain, in a letter to the Christian 
Index, gives the following account of religious exercises in his 
regiment (Forty-ninth Georgia, in " Stonewall " Jackson's com- 
mand) the second week after the battle at Cedar Run : " On the 
following ^Monday night, after all became quiet, I opened a 
meeting, as usual, in one of the companies, to have Avhat we call 
family prayer before retiring to rest. Seeing so many making 
their way towards where we were singing, after singing one 
hymn we called on one brother, and then another, to lead in 
prayer. We had what might be called an old-fashioned prayer- 



280 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

meeting, with about six hundred soldiers present. After several 
prayers had been offered, for a few moments all was silent. I 
must say, I never had such feelings before ; such crying I never 
heard — not aloud, but with deep sobbing. The stoutest and 
hardest hearts were softened — not a word of exhortation was 
given — all was the effect of singing and prayer. I gave an in- 
vitation to anxious ones to come forward for prayer, and prob- 
ably 300 responded ! 

** After prayer the meeting closed; but still the soldiers re- 
mained for some time about the place where God was blessing 
their souls. The impression that our soldiers are becoming 
greatly demoralized is false. I will only add, we have had many 
more such meetings. The night of the 8th inst. will long be re- 
membered by many. I have seen the seeker weep ; I have seen 
the new-born soul rejoice ; fifteen have been converted in my 
company in a short time." 

During the spring of 1862 two faithful chaplains, Rev. J. W. 
Timberlake, of the Second Florida, and Rev. W. H. C. Cone, of 
the Nineteenth Georgia, died from disease contracted in the 
service, and two, Rev. Geo. W. Harris, of Upperville, and Rev. 
Dr. J. C. Granberry (then chaplain of the Eleventh Virginia 
Regiment), were wounded in the faithful discharge of their duty. 

The chaplains, missionaries, colporters and Christian workers 
generally were stirred up to renewed diligence by the scenes 
through which they were called on to pass, but, as a wounded 
soldier put it, ** God preached to us as all of the preachers on 
earth could not do." 

The testimony to the blessed fact of God's presence among 
the soldiers is most abundant. " God is in the army," wrote a 
pious man ; ** many in my regiment have passed from death unto 
life." ** One hundred of my regiment," said a chaplain, *' have 
professed conversion since we have been in the service." 

Rev. J. M. Stokes, chaplain in Wright's Georgia Brigade, says 
of the religious condition of the troops : 

" I am happy to state that the health of our troops seems to 
be much better than it was a few months since. It will be a 
source of delight to Christians and all thinking people to know 
that the religious element among our troops is much greater 
now than at any time previous since the war began. I believe 
sincerely that there is less prof anity in a week nozu, than there was 
in a day six montJis ago. And I am quite sure there are ten who 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 281 

attend religious services now to one who attended six 7nonths ago. 
I speak principally with reference to our own regiment, but I 
have been informed by those who have travelled among the 
different parts of the army in Virginia that such is the case 
everywhere." 

" Strange as it may appear to some," writes an experienced 
post chaplain, " scores of men are converted immediately after 
great battles. This has become so common that I as confidently 
look for the arrival of such patients as I do for the wounded. It 
is not very strange, if we remember that before they went into 
battle they had been serious and thoughtful. Here God covered 
their heads, and their preservation was a manifestation of His 
power and goodness that humbled their souls. * What cause 
for gratitude to God that I was not cut down when my comrades 
fell at my side.' ' But for God I would have been slain.' * I do 
not see how I escaped. I know that I am under renewed obli- 
gations to love Him, and am resolved to serve Him.' 'After the 
battle at Malvern Hill, I was enabled to give my soul to Christ — 
this war has made me a believer in religion, sir,' said a wounded 
soldier. These and other expressions show how God is work- 
ing out His purposes of grace and wisdom in these times of 
darkness and distress." 

Among the many thousands of wounded that filled the Rich- 
mond hospitals, the work of salvation was deep and general. 
" The Lord is with us at Seabrooks' Hospital," wrote Rev. W. R. 
Gualtney ; " we have a great revival of religion here. A greater 
one I scarcely ever witnessed. Rarely a day passes but I find 
one or more new converts. The number in our hospital is being 
rapidly reduced, many being transferred to other places, and 
many having died ; but the religious element in our midst is by 
no means dying out. A large number are yet inquiring, * What 
must we do to be saved ? ' Those who have professed a hope in 
Christ seem to be in the full enjoyment of faith." 

"I am happy," says another minister, "to report the manifest 
tokens of the presence of the Spirit among us, even in these 
times of strife and battle. I do believe that these solemn visita- 
tions of Providence have been His chosen way of touching many 
a heart. There are earnest desires awakened in many a bosom, 
which I trust will lead them to the Cross. I believe there are 
many of our brave men lying on their hard pallets in the hospitals 
who are now secretly indulging a hope in Jesus." 



282 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ,* 

My own experience and observation fully confirm what is said 
above, and I have some very clear illustrations of the fact that 
Christ was on the battle-field as well as ** in the camp," and that 
He manifested His saving power to not a few of our brave boys 
during that bloody campaign of 1862. 



CHAPTER X. 

REVIVALS IN THE LOWER VALLEY AND AROUND FREDERICKSBURG. 

EVEN the brief season of comparative quiet which we enjoyed 
in the Lower Valley of Virginia, after our return from the 
first Maryland campaign, developed very decided indications of 
revivals in a number of the brigades. 

So far as I have been able to learn, the first revival of much 
interest which occurred in the army at this time was in Trimble's 
Brigade, and especially in the Twelfth and Forty-fourth Georgia 
Regiments. Rev. A. M. Marshall, who had been a gallant private 
in the Twelfth Georgia, had been a short time before commis- 
sioned chaplain in his regiment, and, like other chaplains pro- 
moted from the ranks, proved himself as faithful in the chaplaincy 
as he had been as a soldier, and as he has been as a pastor since 
the war. 

As soon as the army went into camp, near Bunker Hill, in the 
Lower Valley of Virginia, Mr. Marshall began a series of special 
services, which at once developed decided interest. He called 
Rev. James Nelson, of the Forty-fourth Virginia, and jnyself to 
his aid, and was especially fortunate in having Dr. Joseph C. 
Stiles, who was then preaching in Lawton's Georgia Brigade, to 
preach for him once every day. Large crowds attended the 
meetings, numbers presented themselves for prayer, there were a 
number of professions of conversion, and the work had developed 
into a revival of increasing power, when it was interrupted by 
the active campaign which culminated in the great victory of 
First Fredericksburg. 

Dr. Stiles thus wrote of his labors at this time : 

"At his earnest request, I preached to General Pryor's Brigade 
last Sabbath. Upon one hour's notice, he marched up 1,500 
men, who listened with so much interest to a long sermon that I 
was not surprised to hear of such a beginning of religious interest 
in various regiments of the brigade as issued in a half-way 
promise on my part to fall in with the proposal of the general to 

(283) 



284 CHRIST IN THE camp; 

preach very early to his soldiers for a succession of nights. In 
General Lawton's Brigade there is a more decided state of re- 
ligious excitement. The great body of the soldiers in some of 
the regiments meet for prayer and exhortation every night, 
exhibit the deepest solemnity, and present themselves numer- 
ously for the prayers of the chaplains and the Church. Quite 
a number express hope in Christ. In all other portions of 
Early's Division a similar religious sensibility prevails. 

*' In General Trimble's, and the immediately neighboring bri- 
gades, there is in progress, at this hour, one of the most glorious 
revivals I ever witnessed. Some days ago a young chaplain 
took a long ride to solicit my co-operation, stating that a prom- 
ising seriousness had sprung up within their diocese. I have 
now been with him three days and nights, preaching and laboring 
constantly with the soldiers when not on drill. 

" The audiences and the interest have grown to glorious 
dimensions. It would rejoice you over-deeply to glance for one 
instant on our night-meeting in the wildwoods, under a full 
moon, aided by the light of our side-stands. You would behold 
a mass of men seated on the earth all around you (I was going 
to say for the space of half an acre), fringed in all its circumfer- 
ence by a line of standing officers and soldiers — two or three 
deep — all exhibiting the most solemn and respectful earnestness 
that a Christian assembly ever displayed. An officer said to me, 
last night, on returning from worship, he never had witnessed 
such a scene, though a Presbyterian elder; especially such an 
abiding solemnity and delight in the services as prevented all 
whisperings in the outskirts, leaving of the congregation, or rest- 
less change of position. 

" I suppose at the close of the service we had about sixty or 
seventy men and officers come forward and publicly solicit an 
interest in our prayers, and there may have been as many more 
who, from the press, could not reach the stand. I have already 
conversed with quite a number, who seem to give pleasant evi- 
dence of return to God, and all things seem to be rapidly devel- 
oping for the best. 

" The officers, especially Generals Jackson and Early, have 
modified military rules for our accommodation. I have just 
learned that General A. P. Hill's Division enjoys as rich a dis- 
pensation of God's Spirit as General Early's. In General Pick- 
ett's Division, also, there are said to be revivals of religion." 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 285 

I give also the closing part of one of my own letters to the 
Religions Herald, written at this time : 

" But I have saved the best for the last. There is a very inter- 
esting revival in our corps. Soon after the return of our army 
from Maryland, Brother Marshall, chaplain of the Twelfth 
Georgia Regiment, assisted by Brother Nelson, of the Forty- 
fourth Virginia, and other brethren, began a series of meetings 
which soon became very interesting — the attendance from the 
entire brigade being very large, and many coming forward for 
prayer. The Rev. Dr. Stiles came to our aid, and his able ser- 
mons and earnest labors were attended with the happiest results. 
The meetings were providentially brought to a close, and up to 
that time there had been forty-five professions of conversion and 
there were still from seventy-five to a hundred inquirers. At 
the same time. Dr. Stiles was aiding the chaplains in Lawton's 
Brigade in a very interesting revival. There has also been, under 
the same efficient labors, an interesting revival in Jackson's old 
brigade (" Stonewall "), and in Taliaferro's. A meeting was begun 
in our brigade (Early's) two weeks ago, and, despite our frequent 
moves and the bad weather, we are still keeping up the meetings, 
and the Lord is blessing our efforts. Several have professed 
conversion, there are a number deeply interested about their 
souls, the congregations are large and attentive, and the interest 
is daily increasing. 

" Brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free 
course in our midst. Our meetings at night present a scene 
of vivid interest. The large fire-stands (built camp-meet- 
ing style), and the crowd of upturned, anxious faces, with the 
camp-fires far and near, all combine to form a scene which a 
master-hand might delight to paint. We were favored the other 
day by a visit from Brother C. F. Fry, who brought a large supply 
of Testaments, * camp-hymns,' and tracts, which were in great 
demand amongst us. I wish we had a colporter for every bri- 
gade in the army. No one who has not seen the eagerness with 
which our soldiers receive and read these 'messengers of love,' 
can begin to appreciate the noble work in which Brother Dick- 
inson and his band of colporters are engaged, in thus carrying 
to the soldier's tent and bivouac the printed page that tells of 
Jesus. 

" Our soldiers are not heathen (as some seem to suppose), and, 



286 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

despite the varied tejtnptations of camp-life, ar:e usually thankful 
for a kind word of advice, whether spoken or written. 

" Occasional." 

Captain Thos. J. Kirkpatrick writes, from the Army of the 
Potomac, to the Central Presbyterian^ that within three weeks be- 
tween forty and fifty members of his company have been hope- 
fully converted, and that out of the whole number in it (115), 
there is hardly a single man who is not a professor of faith in 
Jesus, or in some degree an inquirer for the way of life. He 
states also that " some seventeen have been baptized, not into 
communion with any particular denomination, but with Christ's 
people." 

The revival alluded to by Captain Kirkpatrick was one of the 
most powerful enjoyed in the army at this time. The meetings 
were conducted by Rev. Hugh Roy Scott, an Episcopal clergy- 
man of King George county, who described the work of grace 
in a tract which was published by the " Evangelical Tract So- 
ciety," of Petersburg, and which contains so many details of 
interest that I insert it in full, as follows : 

" Camp Nineveh. 



'By Rev. Hugh Roy Scott. 



" * Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.' — 
Zech. iv. 6. 

" During the month of October, 1862, it was my privilege to 
witness one of the most remarkable spiritual awakenings that 
has ever occurred in this country. 

" I joined our army near Winchester, just as it returned from 
Maryland, after the battle of Sharpsburg, for the purpose of 
spending a few weeks with friends, and to avail myself of an op- 
portunity to preach the Gospel to our soldiers. For four months 
our brave troops had been marching and fighting. About one 
dozen terrible battles had been fought, and several hundred miles 
of wearisome marching, under a burning summer's sun, had 
been endured. During this period nearly all religious services 
had been necessarily suspended. But their minds had been most 
forcibly turned to the subject by the many sad scenes through 
which they had passed. They had seen field after field strewn 
with their dead and dying comrades. This, and the uncertainty 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 287 

of the future to themselves, produced a serious, thoughtful frame 
of mind, which pervaded nearly the whole army. Nearly all 
seemed disposed to converse on the subject of religion, and 
freely admitted that it was a matter of the deepest importance. 

** On the 4th day of October, the reserved artillery, under 
command of Brigadier-General Pendleton, moved to Camp 
Nineveh, about twelve miles from Winchester, on the road to 
Front Royal. Here they halted for four weeks, in one of the 
most beautiful regions of the State. Besides the natural beauties 
of the place, it was rendered more attractive to us from the fact 
of General Muhlenburg, of the Revolutionary War, having offi- 
ciated as a clergyman in a church in the immediate vicinity. 

" On the first evening after our arrival here, I held the first of 
a series of services, that were kept up, when the weather per- 
mitted it, every evening during the stay of the army in this 
region. These services were held after dark, in the open air, 
around a blazing camp-fire. They commenced always with sing- 
ing, which quickly attracted a congregation, and w^ere followed 
by prayer, and a plain, practical sermon, in which the great 
doctrines of justification by faith, evangelical repentance, and 
the new birth were set forth in the simplest language. When 
the sermon closed, after singing and prayer, generally an earnest 

exhortation was made by Captain K , a man who, while 

most efficiently discharging the duties of a soldier of his countr}^, 
has never forgotten that he is a soldier of Christ. 

" From the beginning of these services it was evident that 
God's Spirit was working in many hearts. The men listened 
with the deepest attention, and seemed very reluctant to leave 
the ground when the benediction was pronounced — sometimes 
spending hours in singing hymns, and earnest religious con- 
versation. On one of these occasions Captain K went to 

them and said : * What a blessed thing it would be, if all of you 
who are here present could agree to give yourselves to God 
from this hour.' And after an earnest exhortation to flee at 
once to Jesus for righteousness, sanctification and redemption, 
he asked them what their views were on the great subject; and, 
to his surprise, six out of seven who were sitting together 
declared their determination to seek at once an interest in the 
atoning blood of Jesus. 

'' This was the beginning of the great and glorious work of 
grace that followed. Every night a deeper and deeper anxiety 



288 CHRIST IN THE CAMP;* 

was manifested. There was little or no excitement, and no ex- 
traordinary means to promote deep feeling were resorted to. 
The Spirit of God went with the preached word and earnest, 
pointed conversation, and the heads of many of the most hard- 
ened sinners were bowed down, as** they became convicted of 
sin, of righteousness, and of a judgment to come.' A deeper 
sense of sin, or more childlike faith, I have never seen mani- 
fested. Another striking characteristic was the eagerness which 
was manifested by all for the sincere milk of the word. The 
Bible was the book to which they continually resorted; and . 
those who had tasted of the love of Christ showed the greatest 
eagerness to lead others to the same precious fountain. 

"After the services had been continued for a week, a number 
of the young converts manifested a desire to dedicate themselves 
to the Lord in baptism. And, though the weather was inclement, 
it was thought advisable not to postpone the service, as it then 
seemed probable that the army would move speedily. The ser- 
vice was one of the most solemn and deeply interesting I ever 
witnessed. The six soldiers to be baptized stood in a line near 
the blazing camp-fire, surrounded by a large congregation of 
attentive and interested spectators. The deep darkness of the 
night, and slight fall of rain, added much to the solemnity of 
the occasion. 

"Among the six soldiers who came forward to enlist under 
the banner of the great Captain of their salvation there was a 
great variety of character. The first was a poor, weak man, who 
had given much trouble to the officers of his company ; the next, 
a man of remarkable bravery, had been one of the most notori- 
ous sinners in the company. His evidence of conversion was 
strikingly clear. His sorrow for sin was very deep, and his 
faith simple and ardent. Then came forward one who had been 
regarded as one of the most unpromising men in his company — 
whose previous life had been anything else than religious. He 
seemed now to be thoroughly in earnest, and manifested the 
spirit of a genuine penitent. The next was an amiable and 
moral young man, who had been long seeking the Saviour. 
The last two were among the bravest and best men in the 
army. Having nobly struggled as good soldiers of their 
country, they came forward to enlist zealously in the service of 
their Redeemer. 

" When these six were baptized, a very interesting youth, who 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 289 

had been deeply concerned for several days, expressed a desire 
to follow their example. He said he felt himself to be a guilty, 
helpless sinner, but he had given his soul to Jesus to be His 
forever, and desired at once to enlist as His soldier. Believing 
him to be a genuine convert, we at once administered to him the 
ordinance of baptism. 

" This was an evening never to be forgotten by any who 
were present. The Holy Spirit was evidently with us, working 
with power in many hearts ; and Jesus was also there, manifest- 
ing His power and willingness to save. Besides the little band 
of seven who put on the Christian armor, there were many 
hearts moved that evening, and tears flowed from many eyes 
unused to weeping. From that solemn hour we have reason to 
believe that a goodly number resolved to spend their lives in the 
service of their Lord and Saviour. 

" From this time our services increased in interest, the number 
of anxious inquirers increased steadily, and many backsliders 
were led to repentance. When four weeks had passed by, dur- 
ing which time the meetings were kept up every evening, except 
when interrupted by bad weather, nineteen men had been bap- 
tized, thirty-six admitted, for the first time, to the communion 
of the Lord's Supper, and about sixty had professed a hope in 
the Lord Jesus. 

*' A few^ of the most striking cases of awakening are worthy of 
being specially noticed. Among the first persons awakened was 
a notorious card-player and swearer. He was one evening stand- 
ing guard near enough to the camp-fire to hear what passed. 
Upon hearing an old friend, who had long been his companion 
in sinful practices, confess a determination to renounce his sins, 
and seek an interest in the atoning blood of Jesus, he, too, be- 
came powerfully convicted. He realized, as never before", that 
he was a wretched sinner, standing on the verge of an awful 
hell. He became more and more alarmed, and, at last, became 
so powerfully excited — to use his own words — he felt as if some 
one was after him with a bayonet, and soon found himself almost 
on a run, as he moved backwards and forwards on his beat. After 
a time he succeeded in driving off his serious feelings, but in a few 
days they returned with renewed violence, and he found no rest 
until he laid hold of Jesus. Well do I remember the earnest, 
happy expression of this man's face as he sat, night after night, 
by the camp-fire, eagerly devouring the preached word. From 
19 



290 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

the day he found peace in beheving he went forth as a genuine 
missionary. He preached the Gospel in season and out of sea- 
son ; day by day he warned his ungodly companions to flee 
from the wrath to come. On one occasion he visited a neigh- 
boring camp, and earnestly exhorted the men to come to our 
meetings. As he walked across a field near the camp, he met a 
man who was swearing in a terrible manner. After gently 
reproving him, he asked him if he would not attend the evening 
meetings, and told him that there had been a great visitation of 
the Spirit in his camp. The man replied that he did not know 
that he had any visitation except from the Yankees. ' Yes,' 
says he, * God has poured out his Spirit upon many in my 
camp, who were hardened in sin, and they are now happy 
Christians.' 

** 'Are you a Christian, too?' asked the stranger. 

** * Yes, I was like yourself, going on hardened in sin, and a 
few evenings since the Lord led me to see and feel my sins, and 
I now have a hope in Jesus.* 

"After a short pause, with much feeling he said, * Will you 
pray for me ? ' 

*' * Yes, I will pray for you, and all like you, that you be 
brought to Jesus as I have been. But you must, at the same 
time, pray for yourself 

" Then they parted. After a few days they met again, and the 
reader can imagine the joy it gave our young convert to find 
that his appeal had gone to the heart of a stranger ; that he had 
sought the Saviour, and found peace to his troubled soul. 

''Another case I will describe, of peculiar interest. An un- 
godly young man came to our meetings, and became convicted. 
And, as is too often the case, he earnestly strove to drive off all 
serious feeling. While all around him attended the services, he 
staid aw^ay, fearing that he might be forced to yield his heart to 
the movings of the Spirit. One night, when nearly all in his 
tent had gone to the meeting, a young friend, who had once 
been a professing Christian, persuaded him to accompany him. 
They came within hearing distance, and sat down on a pile of 
hay. During the sermon he became powerfully awakened, and 
as soon as it closed a cousin of his came and asked me to go to 
him. I found him in great distress of mind. As soon as he 
saw me, he clasped my hand, and said : ' I have sent for you to 
know what I must do.' 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 291 

" I replied : * You have nothing to do. Everything has been 
done for you. If you feel yourself to be a sinner, you may rest 
assured that the Lord is willing and ready to bless you now.' 
And without a moment's delay he took hold of Christ, and 
found peace in-believing. 

" He then, in an earnest tone, said : * Where is W., who brought 
me here ? He is a backslider ; go and talk to him.' 

" The next Sunday was a very stormy day. Not being able to 
hold a public service, I went from tent to tent, conversing and 
praying with the men. While in the tent occupied by these two 
young men, I asked, * Are all in this tent Christian soldiers ? ' 
When I asked this question, I observed that young W. seemed 
depressed, though he said nothing. That night was exceedingly 
stormy, and fearing that my tent would blow down, I went to a 
neighboring house. Just before reaching the house I heard some 
one address me, it being too dark to see distinctly. I turned 
around, and discovered it was young W. He had followed me 
from the tent, that he might open his heart to me. He said : 
' When you asked in my tent to-day, if all were Christian sol- 
diers', and some one replied, "All except one," I felt that that was 
not exactly true. I was once a professing Christian, but have 
recently been very wicked ; and, while living an ungodly life, have 
led my sister's to believe that I was still a Christian. I now feel 
as never before. I trust I have truly repented of my sins, and 
believe that I am pardoned.' 

" I exhorted him to confess all to his family, and to make a fresh 
consecration of himself to his Saviour. And as I thought of 
his experience, and that of his friend, I could not but be im- 
pressed by the mysterious way in which God works. He had 
here made use of a backslider to lead a wicked companion to 
Jesus, and then used the converted man to lead the backslider to 
repentance. 

" One other interesting incident, in like manner illustrating 
God's gracious and mysterious Providence, I will mention. One 
evening, just before night, a large body of troops marched by 
our camp. In one of the regiments was a very intelligent young 
man, from Norfolk, who, not being able, on account of sickness, 
to keep up with his regiment, stopped at our camp to rest, about 
the usual hour for service. He listened with the deepest interest 
to the preached word. I dwelt, in my sermon, on God's myste- 
rious dealings with His people, and endeavored to show His 



292 

faithfulness in afflicting us, and that He leads all His people *by 
the right way ' into His heavenly kingdom. When the service 
closed, observing him very thoughtful, I asked him if he was a 
professing Christian. He said he was not, but trusted he could 
from that hour give his heart to the Saviour. He said he came 
to the meeting in a bad humor, being displeased at his regiment 
moving so rapidly ; but he then saw why he had been left behind, 
and believed he would be able to praise the Lord through eternity 
for having brought him to our service that evening. 

*' The sixty men who professed a hope in Jesus within these four 
weeks were from three or four different companies. But the 

larger portion of them belonged to the company of Captain K . 

When this company entered the service, one year before, it was 
made up, for the most part, of the most wicked men to be met 
with. The larger portion of the men were grossly addicted to 
gambling, drinking, and profanity. The captain labored un- 
ceasingly to overcome these vices, and continually pressed upon 
his men the great truths of the Gospel. He had the satisfaction 
of seeing a steady improvement in the deportment of all, and he 
was especially gratified to see profanity almost entirely aban- 
doned. And now, after one year of faithful, persevering labor, 
he was rewarded by this gracious and most abundant outpouring 
of the Spirit. The seed, which he had diligently sown, now took 
root, sprang up, and brought forth abundant fruit. Of the eighty 
odd members of his company present during these services, sev- 
enteen were professing Christians when they commenced, forty- 
three more expressed a hope in Christ before they closed, four- 
teen were more or less anxious on account of their souls, and 
not more than six, if so many, were indifferent. 

" The following extract from a letter I recently received from 
Captain K , written about six months after the great awak- 
ening, will show how the young communicants in his company 
have held out : 

" ' The young Christians in my company,' he says, ' have held 
out, I think, with remarkable consistency; only two or three 
have been otherwise. We have regular preaching, prayer-meet- 
ing, and Bible-class, which are well attended, everything con- 
sidered. The religious interest, though nothing like it was at 
Camp Nineveh, still continues.' 

" Does not the experience of this company show what may be 
expected when the officers of our army strive to promote the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 293 

moral and spiritual welfare of their men ? Would to God we 
could see all among our soldiers, who profess the name of Christ, 
laboring as Christian soldiers. Then, doubtless, such scenes as 
were witnessed at Camp Nineveh would often be repeated, and 
our armies, instead of being schools of vice, would become most 
valuable training-schools for the kingdom of Heaven." 

There was every reason to hope that we were on the eve of a 
general revival throughout Jackson's Corps at this time. The 
chaplains were aroused to their duty, and Christian soldiers were 
working and praying as I had not seen them before. General 
Jackson himself was a frequent attendant at our meetings, and 
manifested the deepest concern for the salvation of his men, and 
the liveliest hope that we were about to be blessed with a gen- 
eral revival. 

But soon tidings came that Burnside had relieved McClellan 
and was moving on Fredericksburg — that Lee, with Longstreet's 
Corps, was hastening to confront him — and that Jackson was 
needed on the Rappahannock. 

The order to move is at once given, and "the foot cavalry" 
march, with their swinging stride, through the mountains and 
down through Madison, Orange, Spottsylvania, and Caroline 
counties, to take their appropriate place on the line of the Rap- 
pahannock, and bear their heroic part in the great battle of 
Fredericksburg on the memorable 13th of December. 

We had some precious seasons of worship on that march, and 
while awaiting the opening of the battle of Fredericksburg, and 
in laboring among the wounded of the battle, we found a number 
who had recently found Jesus. But, of course, the active cam- 
paign, the battle, and the severe winter weather which was now 
upon us, seriously hindered regular preaching and out-door ser- 
vice, and it was some timp before any of the brigades had chapels, 
while several changes of camp prevented some of us from having 
chapels at all this winter. But the revival spirit manifested 
itself in a number of the brigades during the winter and follow- 
ing spring. 

, " Staunton, Virginia, October 28. 

" I have for six days been aiding in a protracted meeting at 
this place. Hundreds of soldiers pass here every day, returning 
to the army, while quite as many sick are coming in to take the 
cars. Besides, there are here several large hospitals, well filled. 



294 

Thus our meetings were well attended by soldiers — the church 
filled every night. Quite a number asked for prayer, a few of 
whom found the Saviour ; but having to go right on to the army, 
they were not received into the Church. Never have I known 
such eagerness to hear and to read the Gospel as is manifested 
by the convalescent soldiers here. Rev. George B. Taylor and 
Rev. Mr. Smith are the chaplains at this post. Brother Taylor 
has recently collected more than ;^300, with which to buy a cir- 
culating library for the hospitals. This is a good move, and de- 
serves the consideration of all chaplains who are stationed at 
hospitals. Brother C. F. Fry is laboring here, in the employ- 
ment of our board, and is doing a vast amount of good. We 
need at least a hundred more to act as colporters in the camps and 
hospitals. Have we earnest-hearted men who are ready to enter 
this service, constrained by love to Christ and to souls ? I am 
persuaded that the post of colporter in the army is one worthy 
of our very best ministers. At least this is the opinion of Rev. 
Ro. Ryland, who for a year has been giving himself to the 
work. "A. E. D." 

'' I have recently closed a protracted meeting in my regiment, 
which resulted in about ten conversions. 

" F. McCarthy, Chaplain Seventh Virginia Regiment." 

A correspondent of one of our exchanges says : " I have never 
heard tenderer, more fervent or more importunate prayers, than 
in the tent, or rough bivouac, or in the woods." 

Elder A. B. Campbell, chaplain of the Ninth Georgia Regi- 
ment, writes from camp near Orange Court House, Virginia, 
November lO, to his parents : ** From the time we left the Penin- 
sula until now, we have never suffered an opportunity to hold 
meetings to pass unimproved. Many souls have been converted, 
and Christians in the army have been greatly revived, and many 
who had fearfully backslidden have been reclaimed. Two of 
these young men have fallen in battle. As one of them fell at 
Manassas, he turned his dying eyes to his companions,- and said: 
' Write to mother, and tell all the family to meet me in heaven, 
for I am going there.' The other was wounded there also, and 
subsequently died — declaring to the last that he was * willing to 
depart and be with Christ.' Others of the young converts are 
with us, battling nobly for the cause of Christ. It is no longer 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 295 

a question whether the work of God can be carried on in an 
army." 

I have alluded to the great revival in Barksdale's Mississippi 
Brigade, stationed in the battered old town of Fredericksburg — a 
work which, begun not long after the battle of the 13th of De- 
cember, was interrupted, but not seriously retarded, by the battle 
of Chancellorsville, and went gloriously on until the Hne of march 
was taken for Gettysburg. Indeed that active and bloody cam- 
paign only interfered with " gathering in the sheaves," but did 
not stop the work, which still went graciously on. 

Rev. W. B. Owen (IMethodist), chaplain of the Seventeenth 
Mississippi, had the general conduct of the meetings, and was 
assisted at different times by Rev. Dr. J. C. Stiles, Rev. Dr. Wil- 
liam J. Hoge, Rev. James D. CouUing, Rev. Dr. J. A. Duncan, 
Rev. Dr. J. L. Burrows, Rev. Dr. A. E. Dickinson, Rev. W. H. 
Carroll, and others, and the constant help of Rev. J. L. Pettigrew 
and other earnest workers in the brigade. 

Dr. Stiles began his labors there the latter part of February, 
and not long after wrote as follows : 

"After my arrival we held three meetings a day — a morning 
and afternoon prayer-meeting and a preaching service at night. 
We could scarcely ask of delightful religious interest more than 
we received. Our sanctuary has been crowded — lower floor and 
gallery. Loud, animated singing always hailed our approach to 
the house of God ; and a closely packed audience of men, 
amongst whom you might have searched in vain for one white 
hair, were leaning upon the voice of the preacher, as if God Him- 
self had called them together to hear of life and death eternal. 
At every call for the anxious, the entire altar, the front six seats 
of the five^^locks of pews surrounding the pulpit, and all the 
spaces thereabouts ever so closely packe<2, could scarcely accom- 
modate the supplicants ; while daily public conversions gave 
peculiar interest to the sanctuary services. Of this class we have 
numbered during the week say some forty or fifty souls. Officers 
are beginning to bow for prayer, and our house to be too strait 
for worshippers. The audience, the interest, the converted, the 
fidelity of the Church, and the expectations of the ministry, are 
all steadily and most hopefully increasing." 

The above was written by Dr. Stiles a few da}'s after he got 
there. In later communications he was enabled to speak still 
more strongly of the progress and results of the great revival. 



296 

The meetings were first held in the Presbyterian and then in 
the Methodist church (the Baptist church had been so injured 
by the bombardment that it could not be used), but these houses 
were soon overflowed, and the meetings moved to the more 
spacious Episcopal church, which the rector offered for the 
purpose. 

One present at this time thus writes concerning the gracious 
work : " Last evening there were fully lOO penitents at the altar. 
[I saw fully 200 one night]. So great is the work, and so inter- 
ested are the soldiers, that the Methodist Episcopal church 
has been found inadequate for the accommodation of the 
congregations, and the Episcopal church having been kindly 
tendered by its pastor. Rev. Mr. Randolph, who is now here, the 
services have been removed to that edifice, where meetings are 
held as often as three times a day. This work is widening and 
deepening, and ere it closes, it may permeate the whole Army of 
Northern Virginia, and bring forth fruits in the building up and 
strengthening in a pure faith and a true Christianity the best 
army the world ever saw." 

It was my own privilege to go frequently into Fredericksburg 
(especially when my regiment would be on picket below the 
town) and to labor in this great revival, and I can endorse fully 
what has been said of its extent and power. 

Rev. W. B. Owen sent the following letter to the Religious 
Herald: 

"March 26, 1 863. 

^^ Messrs. Editors: Will you permit me to inform the readers 
of your paper and the friends of Jesus that we have a glorious 
revival in our brigade (Barksdale's) ? This is the twenty-first 
day of the meeting, and the interest is still on tlte increase. 
About one hundred have professed faith in Jesus. Dr. J. C. 
Stiles and Rev. Mr. Coulling have been with us, and Rev. Dr. 
Burrows is with us at present. Rev. M. D. Anderson, colporter 
in the army, an employe of Brother A. E. Dickinson, has been 
with us for several days. In the early part of the meeting he 
supplied me with a variety of tracts, which I was much in need 
of, and which I trust have exerted a good influence in this bri- 
gade. He also gave me a number of Testaments, which the 
soldiers truly were glad to obtain. Brother W. H. Carroll, of 
Selma, Alabama, who is also a colporter in the army, has 
rendered us good service. The brethren in the brigade have 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 297 

been very faithful. We ask an interest in the prayers of our 
Christian friends, and earnestly desire that the convicting and 
converting power of the Holy Spirit may be felt throughout our 
army. *' W. B. Owen, 

" Chaplain Seventeenth Mississippi Regiment." 

Rev. Mr. Owen was unquestionably one of the most devoted, 
laborious and efficient chaplains whom we had in the army, and 
held a warm place in the hearts of the soldiers. 

The following extract from one of my letters written at this 
time will give my impressions of this great work as I came into 
personal contact with it : 

It was my privilege on last Tuesday to visit Fredericksburg 
and participate in the exercises of the glorious revival they have 
been having there for the past month. I went in with the hope 
of meeting with Dr. Burrows, who had been preaching there for 
the past week, but he had just left that morning, and the brethren 
pressed me into service to preach for them that night. I have 
never preached under more impressive circumstances. The 
Episcopal church — capable of seating about twelve hundred — 
was well filled with attentive listeners ; and I felt while speaking 
that it was, perhaps, the last message of salvation that some of 
the poor fellows would ever receive. When, at the close of the 
sermon, Brother Owen, chaplain of the Seventeenth Mississippi, 
made a few earnest remarks and invited inquirers to come for- 
ward, there was a simultaneous move of about seventy-five deeply 
penitent men. It was a touching scene to see the stern veteran 
of many a hard-fought field, who would not hesitate to enter the 
deadly breach or charge the heaviest battery, trembling under 
the power ®f Divine truth, and weeping tears of bitter penitence 
over a misspent life. This was the thirty-first day of the meet- 
ing, and up to this time there had been one hundred and twelve 
public professions of conversion, while there were upwards of a 
hundred still seeking the way of life. Brother Carroll, of Ala- 
bama — missionary of our Domestic Mission Board — has been 
assisting in the meetings, and has baptized already about twenty- 
five, while others are awaiting the ordinance. Most of the rest 
have connected themselves with other denominations. Brother 
Owen, under whose direction the meetings have been conducted, 
is a real, whole-souled, working chaplain, and I only wish we had 
many more such. That night the brigade (Barksdale's) received 



298 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

marching orders, but Brother Owen persisted that " the Lord 
would not let them leave while the interest in the meeting con- 
tinued so deep." The next morning the orders were counter- 
manded, and the meeting is still progressing — claiming the warm 
sympathies and fervent prayers of all who love to see the prog- 
ress of the Master's cause. My brigade moved its camp about 
ten days ago, and as I thereby lost the use of my chapel, and the 
weather has been too inclement for outdoor exercises, I am 
endeavoring now to "preach the Gospel from house to house" 
by holding nightly prayer-meetings, alternating from hut to hut. 
They are exceedingly pleasant, and are not without fruit. 

Rev. Dr. Stiles reports to the Oiristian Observer that " there 
are revivals of religion, or a state of promising preparation, 
amongst others, in the following brigades : Barksdale's, Stone- 
wall, Lawton's, Walker's, Paxton's, Hoke's, Cobb's, Jones's, 
Posey's, Wilcox's and Kershaw's." 

The following letter gives a better account of the condition of 
things at the time I wrote it than I can give now, and so I insert 
it in full : 

" Camp near Hamilton's Crossing, April lo, 1863. 
''Dear Brethren : I have no ' stirring news from the seat of 
war,' but can furnish a few items which will be of interest to 
the lovers of Zion's prosperity. We have had, since my last, 
two meetings of the chaplains of our corps, which were even 
more interesting than the first. The ' appeal to the Churches ' 
(written by Rev. B. T. Lacy, as chairman of the committee) was 
read, cordially approved and adopted, after a few unimportant 
alterations. A ' committee of correspondence,' consisting of 
two chaplains from each division of the corps, and representing 
the several denominations, was raised for the purpose of facilitat- 
ing the introduction of chaplains into the destitute regiments, 
and the general subject of the scarcity of chaplains was again 
freely remarked on. It was agreed that each one would aid the 
committee in the discharge of their duties by every means in his 
power, and that the appointment of the committee did not at all 
release individuals from the discharge of their duty in the prem- 
ises. And it was understood that the object of the committee 
was not to assume any dictatorial power in the matter, but merely 
to facilitate the supplying of chaplains for the vacant regiments, 
by finding suitable men and obtaining their appointments by the 



OR,. RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 299 

colonels. The duty of personal conversation with soldiers on 
the subject of religion, its difficulties, and how they may be 
overcome, etc., was another topic of remark ; and it was agreed 
by all that this most potent and much neglected means of use- 
fulness had accomplished a vast amount of good in the army. 
As to its difficulties it was urged that they may be overcome by 
a man whose heart burns with the love of Christ and love for 
the souls of our brave soldiers — that the sentinel's beat, the 
weary march, the outpost, the battle-field, the bivouac and the 
hospital, afford ample time and place to press upon our charges 
the duty of personal religion. The fast-day was mentioned, and 
it was agreed that by a division of labor we would have services 
in as many of the regiments as possible, and that, in addition to 
prayer for the country, we would make the religious condition 
of our corps a subject of special prayer — that the Lord would 
grant us a general revival of His work. During this meeting we 
were highly entertained by remarks from Colonel Faulkner, 
chief of General Jackson's staff, and Colonel Battle, of the Third 
Alabama Infantry. It is a most gratifying fact that many of the 
officers of our corps are earnest Christian men ; and it affords me 
pleasure to say that of those who are not professors of religion I 
have never met with one who threw obstacles in the way of my 
work. At General Jackson's head-quarters they have daily 
prayers and frequent prayer-meetings, attended by the staff, 
couriers, etc., and when there is no minister present the general 
is in the habit of conducting the exercises himself O that this 
were so at all of our head-quarters ! 

" Our last meeting was opened with a sermon at ii o'clock by 
Rev. A. D. Betts, of the Thirtieth North Carolina, our modera- 
tor ; and a most excellent discourse it was — earnest, fervent and 
practical. We spent an hour or more very pleasantly in hearing 
reports of the religious feeling, etc., in the different regiments. 
Brother Cameron, of Rodes's Alabama Brigade, reported that 
he was having an interesting revival — twenty had already made 
public professions of religion, and there were a large number of 
other inquirers. Brethren Vass and Grandin reported a very 
interesting state of things in the " Stonewall Brigade " — they 
were holding nightly meetings in their brigade chapel, at which 
there had been about fifty inquirers, twenty-five of whom had 
joined the different Churches. The interest in the meetings was 
daily increasing. Brother Smith, of the Sixtieth Georgia Regi- 



300 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

ment, reported a number of conversions, four received for bap- 
tism, and a large number of inquirers. The brethren generally 
reported unusual interest in their fast-day exercises — immense 
congregations and the deepest interest manifested. I am per- 
suaded that the day was very generally observed throughout the 
army — even the negro cooks observed it in my regiment — and 
its good results are already apparent. 

" The subject of religious reading for our soldiers next came 
up, and I wish that the brother who thought colporters of no 
use could have been present to hear what chaplains think of the 
matter. By the way, a new name was suggested by some 
brother for the colporter — that of * spiritual commissary ' — and 
tracts and religious papers were called ' spiritual rations.' Visita- 
tion of the sick was discussed — its importance, best methods of 
accomplishing it, etc. 

"Arrangements were made to supply the ' receiving hospital ' 
of our corps at Guinea's Depot with the labors of a chaplain, by 
each of us spending alternate weeks there. These meetings are 
interspersed with devotional exercises, and I am sure that they 
have been of spiritual benefit to us. And then, they have warmed 
our sympathies, aroused our zeal, and given a system to our 
labors, which must result in lasting good. The only wonder is, 
that we did not begin to hold them long before we did. 

" It was my privilege to be in Fredericksburg again about a 
week ago (while my regiment was on picket just below the 
town) and participate in the glorious meeting in progress there. 
Up to that time one Jiundred and ninety had joined the different 
Churches, a number of others had professed conversion, and the 
altar .was still crowded with penitents. I like the way they do 
there in reference to young converts. Every day or so ' the 
doors of the Church are opened,' and an opportunity given to 
all to join the Church of their choice by relating their experience 
and being baptized (if they desire it). 

" But I must hasten to a close — not, however, before relating a 
pleasing little incident that occurred in our brigade the other 
day. Rev. John McGill, the efficient chaplain of the Fifty-second 
Virginia Regiment, had the misfortune to lose his horse a few 
weeks ago. The members of his rogiment quietly got up a sub- 
scription, amounting to four or five hundred dollars, bought him 
a fine horse a few days since, and had it presented to him by 
Captain Bumgardiner, in the presence of the regiment. Should 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 301 

not such incidents as this shame the Churches at home? If sol- 
diers can spare from their scanty allowance of ^li.oo per month 
enough to make such a handsome manifestation of their apprecia- 
tion of a chaplain's services, should not Church members at home, 
who are coining money out of the war, see to it that at least the 
small pittance \\\^y promise their pastor \^ promptly paid? 

" Occasional." 

I will only add this further concerning the great revival in 
Fredericksburg : 

I remember that the night before the enemy crossed the river, 
bringing on the battles of Second Fredericksburg and Chancel- 
lorsville, I preached to a packed house, and in appealing to the 
men to accept Christ as their personal Saviour tJien and there, I 
said : " How know you but that ere to-morrow's sun shall rise 
the long roll may beat, and this brigade be called to meet the 
enemy ? It may be that some of these brave men are hearing 
now their last message of salvation!' 

A number accepted the invitation and came to confess Christ, 
or to ask an interest in the prayers of God's people, and after the 
meeting I went back to the ''reserve" of our picket-line just 
below the town. 

Before day the next morning we were aroused by some of the 
pickets on the line below rushing in to tell us that the enemy 
had crossed the river. Line of battle was at once formed, and 
in the battles which followed a number of Barksdale's veterans 
fell bravely doing their duty. Poor fellows, they had heard 
their last message of salvation ; but it was sweet to believe that 
many of them were trusting in Christ, and that for them " sud- 
den death was only sudden glory." 

There were in this revival in Barksdale's Brigade at Jeast 500 
professions of conversion — many of the converts coming from 
other commands — and the precious influences of the meeting 
went out all through the army. 

Rev. Dr. Stiles, in his report as army missionary to the Board of 
Missions of the New School Presbyterian Synod, says : " So deep 
and enduring was the religious interest awakened by the Freder- 
icksburg revival, that in an artillery company two souls, prob- 
ably made anxious by the zealous piety of a comrade who had 
enjoyed himself abundantly at the Fredericksburg meeting, were 
converted in the midst of the severest fighting in the late battle ; 



302 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

while others felt that they were almost in heaven, and could 
hardly suppress their exultant religious shouts amid the loudest 
roar and din of the conflict, the slaughter of the cannoneers of 
their own guns, and the palpable peril of their own lives." 

" In the Third Georgia Regiment, Army of Northern Virginia, 
fourteen converted soldiers have joined the Methodist and 
eleven the Baptist Church. There are still a hundred earnest 
inquirers for the way of life." 

Rev. Dr. Wm. J. Hoge wrote the Central Presbyterian^ so 
graceful and vivid a description of his visit to the camps about 
Fredericksburg, that I give it in full, although I have already 
made a brief quotation from it, as I am unwilling to mar its 
beauty : 

" Religion in the Army. 

''Dear Doctor Bj^ozvn : As I have no great fondness for letter- 
writing, I am afraid that when you asked me privately to send 
you a sketch of my visit to camp I meant to give you the slip. 
But now that I am publicly challenged in leaded type and 
editorial columns, what can I do ? 

" Yet what are the terms of the challenge ? *A brief and 
spirited communication.' My dear sir, I compromise. I con- 
sent to be * brief,' but to be ' spirited ' is more than I dare engage. 

" By special invitation from an officer in the Second Virginia 
Regiment, I once before set out to preach to the Stonewall Bri- 
gade ; but General Jackson was up too early for me. I arrived 
at noon to learn that he had marched at dawn. So I returned 
to Charlottesville, and in a few days met in the hospital some 
to whom I had hoped to preach in camp, while others, alas ! 
had passed forever beyond the reach of any earthly ministry! 

" In my late visit, it was my high privilege to preach six times 
to crowds of men eager to hear the Gospel. Five of these ser- 
mons were to the Stonewall Brigade ; the first, Saturday night. 
The camp was muddy, the air harsh, the night dark — just the 
night to chill the preacher with forebodings of empty seats and 
cheerless services. But as I made my way through the streets 
of the tented city to the substantial church erected by this enter- 
prising brigade, I was suddenly greeted by a burst of sacred 
song which lifted my heart. It sounded over the camp like a 
bell. A prayer-meeting had been appointed for the half hour 
before public worship, and the house was already full : so full 
that it was not without difficulty that I made my way to the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 303 

pulpit ; so full that when General Jackson and General Paxton 
came to the door, they modestly retired, least they should dis- 
place some already within ; so full that one of the men aptly 
compared the close packing to that of ' herrings in a barrel.' 

" One could not sit in that pulpit and meet the concentrated 
gaze of those men, without deep emotion. I remembered that 
they were veterans of many a bloody field. The eyes which 
looked into mine, waiting for the Gospel of peace, had looked 
as steadfastly into eyes which burned with deadly hate, and upon 
whatever is terrible in war. The voices which now poured out 
their strength in singing the songs of ' Zion ' had shouted in the 
charge and the victory. I thought of their privations and their 
perils, of the cause for which they had suffered, of the service 
they had rendered the country, the Church of God, and what- 
ever I hold personally dear, and what could I do but honor 
them, love them, and count it all joy to serve them in the Gospel ? 

" I missed, indeed, some faces which would have beamed their 
welcome upon me ; some voices with which, in other days, mine 
had joined in family worship and * in the great congregation.' 
But I remembered how they lived, how they fought, how they 
died — in faith, the blessed faith of Christ ; that * all the ends they 
aimed at were their country's, their God's, and truth's,' and that 
they are now enrolled in ' the noble army of martyrs.' I re- 
membered, too, with just gratification, that their rallying, charg- 
ing and dying at the very crisis of our fate, at Manassas, contrib- 
uted not a little towards earning for their brigade its immortaj 
name, * Stonewall' 

" While we were singing, one thought frequently came to me : 
If such meetings were common throughout the army, what a 
school of sacred music it would be '. Surely men thus trained, 
returning to their homes, would break up that slothful and 
wicked habit, so prevalent in our Churches, of the meit remaining 
stupidly mute while God's praises are sung. 

'* While preaching to these men, their earnestness of aspect con- 
stantly impressed me ; the absence of that rather comfortable 
and well-satisfied air which often pervades our congregations, as 
if mere custom or prospect of entertainment had assembled us. 
These men looked as if they had come on business, and a very 
important business ; and the preacher could scarcely do other- 
wise than feel that he too, had business of moment there ! 

** On Sunday we had three sermons ; the third was from the 



304 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

Rev. B. T. Lacy. Although the weather was excessively raw, 
he had already preached twice that day in the open air to large 
congregations in another brigade. And here, Mr. Editor, as 
you have called me out, let me call hivi out. I think a fuller 
and more accurate statement than I could give of the position 
he now holds and the work he has undertaken would be useful. 
I will only say that, in my judgment, he has now before him, if 
the Church gives him her prayers, and God His blessing, the 
most important field he was ever called to occupy ; yea, such a 
field, that no man, who is free to enter it and whom God has 
fitted for it, need wish for one wider or more promising. 

*' These nightly meetings were in progress before my arrival, 
and were to continue after my departure. May the Spirit of 
grace and power make them a means of unmeasured blessing ! 

** On Wednesday morning I set out in company with the Rev. 
B. T. Lacy to visit Fredericksburg and its battle-ground. When 
General Jackson heard of our intention, he added to his many 
kindnesses that of sending us over on his horses. During part 
of my stay in camp I had been his guest. I will not do violence 
to the sacredness of private intercourse by publishing any ac- 
count of the hours I was permitted to enjoy in his society. But 
I am sure that it ought not to wound his delicacy that I give 
utterance once more to the sentiment which fills his soul ; his 
sense of the necessity and power of prayer; prayer in the army; 
prayer for the army ; prayer by the whole country. I am sure 
it makes him glad and strong to know how many of the best 
people in the world pray for him without ceasing ; and not for 
him merely, but for the great and just cause for which God has 
raised him up. I am sure that his whole expectation of suc- 
cess — and that he expects to succeed, who that looks into his 
firm and hopeful face, who that sees the placid diligence of his 
daily toils, can for a moment doubt ? — his whole expectation of 
success hangs upon two things which, God has joined together, 
and which no man can safely put asunder: natural means ear- 
nestly used, and God's blessing earnestly sought. Fanaticism 
scorns the use of the natural means, and presumptuously claims 
the blessing of God. Atheism scoffs at the blessing of God, and 
presumptuously depends on mere natural means. The pro- 
foundest wisdom, which is but another name for the simplest 
faith, fixes its humble trust in God's promised blessing on the 
means He Himself has put within our reach. Espousing a 



Or, religion in lee's army. 305 

righteous cause, it prays for it with strong suppHcation, and 
works and fights for it with might and main. 

" Let it cheer and stimulate every godly woman in our land to 
know that our beloved general, whom God has so often .made 
victorious, has expressed it as his belief that our great successes 
are due not more to the prowess of our men on the battle-field, 
than to the prayers of our women at the mercy-seat. 

"We found our soldiers at Fredericksburg all alive with relig- 
ious animation. A rich blessing had been poured upon the 
zealous labors of the Rev. Mr. Owen, Methodist chaplain in 
Barksdale's Brigade. The Rev. Dr. Burrows, of the Baptist 
Church, Richmond, had just arrived, expecting to labor with him 
for some days. As I was to stay but one night, Dr. Burrows 
courteously insisted on my preaching. So we had a Presbyte- 
rian sermon, introduced by Baptist services, under the direction 
of a Methodist chaplain, in an Episcopal church ! Was not 
that a beautiful solution of the vexed problem of Christian union ? 

"The large edifice was crowded with soldiers. They filled the 
chancel, and covered the pulpit stairs. After the sermon, some 
fifty or sixty of them, I should think, came forward with soldierly 
promptness, at the invitation of the chaplain, for conversation 
and prayer. An inquiry-meeting is held for them every morn- 
ing. At that time it had been attended by about one hundred 
persons. 

" There are several incidents connected with our visit to 
Fredericksburg on which I would like to dwell, if time served. 
We spent hours in riding over its great battle-field and through 
its melancholy streets. We stood at the spot made memorable 
by the fall of General Thomas R. R. Cobb — lawyer, statesman, 
author, orator, gentleman. Christian and Presbyterian elder. He 
was struck by a shell from the heights beyond the river. A few 
hundred yards from the tree by which he fell stands the house in 
which his mother was born. As she looked out of those 
windows, in the days of her girlhood, over this fatal field, she 
knew not what a tragical interest it was one day to have for her. 

" In the evening, while pausing in my walk to enjoy an admi- 
rable military band attached to Barksdale's noble Mississippi 
Brigade, I was introduced to the general. He said his men 
were never more comfortable, never in such health, and never so 
eager for the fray as now. 

"A little before sunset I ascended the spire of the Episcopal 
20 



306 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

church, which still gapes with many an honorable wound received 
as the tempest of shells swept over it. There I had a fine view 
of the Federal camp, the dress parade, the hills whitened as far 
as the eye could reach by their tents, the heights malignant with 
cannon menacing yet more wrath to this quiet old town, lately 
so rich in happy homes and pleasant citizens, in social refinement 
and elegant hospitality. 

** But from these suggestive topics I must turn away. If any 
are disposed to charge me with having already forgotten my 
pledge to be * brief,' I must remind them that this is wholly a 
relative term, having no prescribed limits, and therefore, fairly 
subject to ' private interpretation.' 

" William J. Hoge." 

I have not now space to give details of revivals reported at 
this period in Anderson's Brigade of Hood's Division, in the 
Eighth Georgia Regiment, the Sixtieth Georgia Regiment, of 
Gordon's Brigade, the Twenty-first South Carolina Regiment, 
the Thirteenth Mississippi Regiment, the Twenty-eighth North 
Carolina Regiment, the Third Alabama Regiment, the Stone- 
wall Brigade, J. M. Jones's Virginia Brigade, Kershaw's Brigade, 
Early's Brigade, Chimborazo and Camp Winder Hospitals, in 
Richmond, Harris's Mississippi Brigade, Wilcox's Alabama Bri- 
gade, Doles's Georgia Brigade, Thirteenth Alabama Regiment, 
Twenty-sixth Alabama, Wright's Georgia Brigade, and other 
commands. 

One of the most powerful revivals at this period was in 
Thomas's Georgia Brigade, which began about the 1st of Feb- 
ruary, 1863, under the labors of Rev. J. J. Hyman, chaplain of 
the Forty-ninth Georgia Regiment, who preached from four to 
six times every day (to meet the demands of the scattered regi- 
ments of his brigade), and was about to break down, when Rev. 
E. B. Barrett came to his help and was soon after commissioned 
chaplain of the Forty-fifth Georgia Regiment. There were a 
large number of professions of conversion ; Brother Hyman (and 
Brother Barrett, after he came) administered the ordinance of 
baptism almost daily, and when orders came for the command 
to march on the Gettysburg campaign, Brother Hyman was 
in the water baptizing forty-eight converts. I have told how the 
work went on, and have described the touching baptismal scene 
in the Antietam near Hagerstown. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 307 

I may say here that Brother Hyman, who was commissioned 
chaplain on the 1st of May, 1862, after serving for a time as 
private in the ranks of the Forty-ninth Georgia Regiment, was 
one of the most faithful and successful men we had, and though 
laid aside for a time by sickness (brought on by over-work), had 
the privilege of baptizing 238 soldiers, seeing 500 others profess 
conversion in connection with his labors, preaching about 500 
sermons, besides many exhortations, lectures, etc., and distrib- 
uting thousands of pages of tracts, and many Bibles and Testa- 
ments, and performing much other labor which may not be 
written here, but " whose record is on high." 

Carefully compiled statistics show that, in the fall and winter 
of 1862-63, and spring of 1863, there were, at the very lowest 
estimate, at least 1,500 professions of conversion in Lee's army. 

I must omit a vast amount of material which I had collected 
concerning this period, and insert only the following : 

" Head-quarters, Forty-fourth Virginia Regiment, April 15. 
** Revivals of religion are contagious. There are times in the 
history of the Church when God seems to be more willing to 
give His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him than at others ; 
therefore sinners are commanded to repent, that their sins may 
be blotted out, * when the times of refreshing shall come from 
the presence of the Lord.' The same gracious Heavenly Father 
that has owned and revived His work at Fredericksburg, and in 
other portions of the army, has at last poured out upon us re- 
freshing showers of His grace. Though the meeting is in its 
infancy. Christians have been mightily revived and strengthened, 
and sinners savingly converted. The chaplains of this brigade 
(General Jones's, Paxton's old division) waited on Major-Gen- 
eral Trimble about a week ago, and requested him to suspend 
the customary two hours' battalion drill in the morning, that we 
might devote the time to religious services, which he did with- 
out a moment's hesitation. I may remark here, that our gen- 
erals usually take great interest in our work, and are willing to 
do anything to promote our efficiency and the spiritual welfare 
of our soldiers. I had secured the services of Brother F. L. 
Kregel, whose kind and courteous manners and able sermons, 
replete with practical thought and Gospel truth, and delivered 
with unusual unction and warmth, soon won the confidence and 
hearts of the noble veterans whom he addressed. Would that we 



308 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

had a good many more such as Brother Kregel, who would 
spend a portion of their time in visiting the army. I was with 
our Christian hero, General Jackson, at his head-quarters about 
two weeks ago, and he urged us to write and secure the services 
of our ministering brethren in the country during our protracted 
efforts. I remember turning to a brother-chaplain in company 
with me ; he remarked : ' Urge the bishop to come ; tell him he 
can preach to larger congregations here than he can at Ashland.' 
He is very anxious that Dr. Broadus, of Greenville Seminary, 
should visit the army during the spring and summer. Oh ! can- 
not the congregations of our ablest men spare them for a short 
time, and cannot they forego the comforts and luxuries of home,- 
to be instrumental in saving precious, immortal souls, now im- 
perilled in their country's cause ? We will welcome you, 
brethren of the ministry, most cordially, if you will come, while 
the soldiers will call you blessed. Come, we beseech you, in 
behalf of our blood-drenched and wailing country, in behalf of 
the Church militant, and the sad, sick hearts of weeping mothers 
and surviving sisters, we implore you to come and labor that the 
souls of our noble defenders may not be sacrificed, if their bodies 
are, in this stupendous struggle for constitutional freedain and 
national independence, 

"** The soldiers are anxious to hear preaching. They are not — 
as some think — impervious to moral impressions. Their moral 
sensibility is not so stupefied that the Cross of Christ will not con- 
vince them, move them, and save them. During the last week 
twelve young man in my regiment have professed a saving faith 
in Christ, and are candidates for admission into the different 
branches of the Christian Church. Most of them have asked for 
baptism by immersion, and want to join the Baptist Church. 
Those that wish to join other Churches I have turned over to 
chaplains representing the several denominations of Christians in 
the army. There are scores concerned, and anxiously inquiring 
the way of life. Other regiments in the brigade are also blessed 
with God's presence. In my next communication I will give a 
full account of the interesting work of grace going on in this bri- 
gade. My tent was besieged the most of last week by men anx- 
iously inquiring, * What must I do to be saved ? ' We earnestly 
ask an interest in the prayers of God's people. The last meeting 
of the chaplains, which came off yesterday, was one of the most 
delightful I have ever attended. General Pendleton — who is 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 309 

also the Rev. Dr. Pendleton, of the Episcopal Church — was 
present. The feeling remarks of this aged Christian hero 
moved to tears eyes unused to weep ; and the tears that glistened 
in his eyes told that his burning words came from a heart touched 
with a deep sympathy in this grand work. After transacting a 
great deal of important business appertaining to our work, the 
meeting closed by passing a resolution, a solemn act of worship 
to Almighty God, pledging ourselves to pray for each other and 
the success of our labors, each day at sunset. The eternal clock, 
far up in the everlasting belfry of the skies, as it strikes the de- 
parture of each successive day, will remind us of our pledge to 
our brethren and our God. Will not the Christian Church, at 
this noted and impressive hour — an hour so forcibly reminding 
us of the ebbing away of life — unite with us in asking God's 
blessing upon those who are to be the future pillars of Church 
and State? 

" James Nelson, 
" Chaplain Forty-fourth Virginia Regiment." 

Rev. W. H. Carroll, in an account of a visit to Cobb's Bri- 
gade, in the Biblical Recorder, says : "A regimental prayer-meet- 
ing was to be held just after * tattoo,' and at the appointed time I 
started to it, in company with some officers. It was so dark that 
we could not see the stumps, but after stumbling over a few we 
reached the place of prayer. A part of the time it was raining 
and blowing too much for tallow candles, but we found a large 
crowd assembled — some sitting, others standing. In the thick 
darkness, that sweet old hymn, ' When I can read my title clear,' 
with the chorus, ' Remember, Lord, thy dying groans,' was sung. 
The services were then continued, and were interesting through- 
out. It was, indeed, a solemn and impressive occasion." 

" Richmond, Virginia, May 30, 1863. 
*' I have within a few days received the most cheering accounts 
from the Army of Northern Virginia. In almost every regiment 
protracted meetings are in progress, and souls are being born 
into the kingdom. Last Sabbath, Rev. N. B. Cobb, of North 
Carolina, baptized yz'Z^i? in Ransom's Brigade, Rev. Mr. Betts two, 
and the chaplain of the Fourteenth North Carolina fii>e. The 
meetings in this brigade are becoming more and more interesting 
every day, and Brother Cobb informs me that * quite a number 



310 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

have been converted since last Sabbath.' In Wright's Brigade, 
a great work of grace is going on. Last Thursday, Brethren 
Hyman and Marshall, chaplains of the Twelfth and Forty-ninth 
Georgia Regiments, baptized tivcnty-six. The chaplain of the 
Fortieth Virginia reports thirty penitents in Heth's Brigade. 
Brother Barrett, chaplain Forty-fifth Georgia, Thomas's Brigade, 
reports from fifty to one hundred who are seeking the Saviour. 
Since the battle of Chancellorsville, he has received seven for 
church-membership. In the Twelfth South Carolina, twenty-five 
are reported as having made their peace with God. A quarter- 
master in Armistead's Brigade writes me that a good work has 
commenced there, and that nothing is so much needed as men 
to preach Jesus. A Baptist minister from Pickett's Division says 
that in * every brigade in that division protracted meetings are 
being held, and a solemn and deep religious influence pervades 
many hearts.' Rev. Bernard Phillips, our colporter at Winder 
Hospital, informs me that a ' precious revival is being enjoyed at 
that post. Two were received for baptism last night.' Brother 
Phillips is assisting in a protracted meeting, at which many are 
crying to God for mercy. The cry is for the Gospel. In some 
of these protracted meetings, the voice of a minister has scarcely 
been heard. Will not fifty of our pastors throw themselves, for 
a few months, into this great work ? * Send us tracts, colporters, 
and evangelists.' Will not the Churches give with a munificent 
liberality, of their possessions, that the board may meet these 
pressing demands ? 

"A. E. Dickinson, Superintendent, etc." 

''Dear Brethren : Our brigade has just moved, and suspended 
the- protracted meeting which I told you in my last Dr. Pryor 
had commenced, in conjunction with the regimental chaplains. 
There have been about twenty-five conversions, and the meeting 
closed with about the same number of mourners at the anxious 
seat. We did not experience such blessings as have descended 
in other parts of the army, but have abundant reason for grati- 
tude, and to thank God and take courage. About thirteen of 
these conversions were in my regiment. 

" F. McCarthy, 
" Chaplain Seventh Virginia Infantry." 

The chaplain of the Second Georgia Battalion, Army of 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 311 

Northern Virginia, writes, to the Southern Christian Advocate : 
*' The late battles and the recent glorious victory have tended 
greatly to effect a moral reformation in the army. Many of the 
soldiers in the hour of danger formed good resolutions, which I 
am happy to state, they have not forgotten in this time of com- 
parative safety. We have been having some delightful refresh- 
ings from the Lord. The glorious work is going on throughout 
the entire brigade."" 

Chaplain J. M. Cline states, in North Carolina Christian Advo- 
cate, that his regiment, the Fifty-second North Carolina, has been 
experiencing " the most glorious revival of religion he ever wit- 
nessed." Up to the date of his letter, June 5, thirty-four had 
been converted. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE GREAT REVIVAL ALONG THE RAPIDAN. 

THE march to Gettysburg, the great battle and fearful loss 
of many of our noblest and best officers and men, very 
seriously interfered with our regular meetings, but by no means 
suppressed the spirit of revival, which really deepened until, 
when we came back to rest for a season along the Rapidan, the 
" Great Revival " began with all of its power and made wellnigh 
every camp vocal with the praises of our God. 

A large number of our most efficient chaplains felt it to be 
their duty to remain with our wounded at Gettysburg, and were 
(contrary to the " cartel " and the usage of civilized warfare) 
thrown into prison, thus depriving their men of their services at 
a most important juncture. But the different denominations sent 
to the army a number of missionaries and colporters, many of 
the pastors came on visits to the camp, the chaplains present 
were stirred up to double diligence by the circumstances which 
surrounded us, and invaluable coworkers were found among 
Christian officers and men. 

At Winchester, as the army was returning from the Gettysburg 
campaign, my regiment acted as provost-guard and I had oppor- 
tunity, in the hospitals and in some special services which we 
held in several of the Churches, of coming in contact with repre- 
sentatives of nearly every brigade, and of learning that there was 
a very decidedly hopeful religious feeling throughout the army. 

We were exceedingly fortunate in having as preachers in our 
meetings and workers among the soldiers at Winchester, besides 
our chaplains, such men as Drs. Wm. J. Hoge, Wm. F. Broaddus, 
J. A. Broadus, J. L. Burrows, etc., and there was every prospect 
of a general revival among the troops around Winchester, when 
we took up the line of march across the mountains. [It was on 
this march that our honored brother. Dr. J. L. Burrows, walked 
the ninety-two miles from Winchester to Staunton, and, putting 
his coat in one of the ambulances, had it stolen from him by some 
(312) 



RELIGION IN lee's ARMY. 313 

miscreant. Arriving in Harrisonburg on Sunday morning in his 
shirt-sleeves, with his suspenders strapped over his blue worsted 
shirt, he thought he would quietly slip into the Presbyterian 
church and, preserving his incog., hear a sermon from the 
pastor. But some one recognized and reported him, the pastor 
insisted upon his preaching, and at last the good doctor (who 
never knew how to say " No ! " when anybody wants work out 
of him) yielded his objections — saying: " Well ! if you and your 
people can stand my filling your pulpit in this garb, I reckon / 
can" — and, mounting the pulpit, preached what some of his 
friends pronounced the most powerful sermon they ever heard 
from him. By the way, our gifted and loved brother, who has 
done so much in every way to endear himself to Christian 
people of every name, has no brighter record of a faithful, useful 
service than that made by his self-sacrificing labors among our 
soldiers, and will have no brighter stars in his " crown of rejoic- 
ing " than those won to Christ by his efforts among " the boys in 

A few days after his arrival in Winchester, Rev. Dr. J. A. 
Broadus thus wrote to Superintendent Dickinson : 

" I am very glad I came to Virginia and came to Winchester. 
Though there are not such opportunities for preaching as there 
\vere some months ago at Fredericksburg, yet I meet a hearty 
welcome and rejoice in the work. My heart warms towards the 
soldiers. How they do listen to preaching. The Lord be 
thanked for the privilege of telling them about Jesus ; the Lord 
prosper all who labor to save them." 

Two weeks later he wrote as follows : 

" Winchester, Virginia, July 21. 
" De^nr Brother Dickinson : I have been preaching here for 
more than two weeks — the first week, every night at the Luther- 
an church ; the second, every afternoon at the New School 
Presbyterian (Dr. Boyd's). For the last few days there were 
some troops near, and I could preach in their camps, particularly 
in Corse's Brigade, where I was heartily welcomed by some old 
friends. The services at the churches were attended by a good 
many soldiers and citizens ; indeed, a large number, if one con- 
siders the alrtiost uninterrupted rainy weather, and the confused 
Avhirl in which everybody has been living since the wounded at 
Gettysburg began to pour in. 



314 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

"After preaching on Sunday morning, I2th inst, at Dr. Boyd's 
church, and watching, when we came out, the passage along 
the street of nearly 400 prisoners, I stopped to speak to a 
wounded soldier. They were occupying the basement of the 
church as a hospital, and the men, disliking the close room, 
were lying everywhere, in the enclosure before the church, and 
on the steps, and in the vestibule. So it is at all churches, and 
one never goes in or out among these poor fellows, lying on 
their pallets or blankets, wounded or sick, without thinking of 
the Pool of Bethesda. The one mentioned I simply happened, 
as we say, to pass by and notice. He was from Georgia. In 
response to my inquiry, he said he was not a Christian, but 
wished he was. His parents were pious, but mighty hard 
' (Hard Shells) ; ' for his part, he liked to hear all denominations 
preach, and he had for a long time been trying and laboring to 
be a Christian. I sought to explain to him the way of salvation, 
and he listened most earnestly. Presently I was interrupted a 
moment by one of the ladies who were waiting on the wounded-, 
and then turning to this man, I gave him my hand to take leave. 
But he held my hand hard, .and said : ' Stop a little. Pray for 
me, won't you ? I want to be a Christian. My dear mother 
died two years ago, after I entered the army. She had six sons 
that enlisted ; four of them are dead, a fifth was wounded at 
second Manassas, and is a cripple at home; and here am I, and 
I remember the last words my father spoke to me : he said, " My 
son, I want you to be a praying boy." I've tried to do it, but 
I'm very wicked, and deserve God's wrath. You seem to care 
something for me — now pray for me, won't you ? ' He sat up on 
his blanket, drawing his \vounded foot toward him, and I sat by 
his side. There were soldiers lying all around, and people passing 
in every direction, and noisy confusion in the street close by, 
but I never in my life felt more deeply that prayer is a living 
and precious reality. And when I arose, he took my hand him- 
self, and said, * Now you have prayed for me once — won't you 
remember me and pray for me still ? ' There had been nothing 
remarkable in this man's appearance ; he was a hale, hearty- 
looking soldier ; and I walked away thinking how many there 
doubtless are of these poor fellows whom one sees everywhere 
by hundreds, that would in like manner reveal to an enquirer 
an anxious concern for their salvation, retained in some cases 
for months and years. There is no mistake about it that a 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 315 

large proportion of these soldiers are deeply interested in the 
subject of religion. Any experienced preacher would see it, 
from the way they listen to preaching ; and in private, not only 
are all respectful, but many cordially welcome religious conver- 
sation, and avow, without the slightest hesitation, their desire to 
be Christians. 

" * The Convalescent Camp.' 
*' The Yankees have, at various times, obtained materials for 
furnishing their camp from the once beautiful residence of 
Senator Mason, on the edge of town, and there is now nothing 
left but some half demolished walls. A camp, for convalescent 
soldiers on their way to the army, was established near there 
last week, and I went out to preach on Tuesday morning. 
Some 200 men assembled under the trees in what was Mr. 
Mason's yard, and it was moving to see with what fixed at- 
tention they listened. Men were there from almost every State 
in the Confederacy, but we had a common interest in God's 
worship and word. At the close of the sermon, some twenty 
or twenty-five readily knelt for special prayer. My appoint- 
ments here having closed on Saturday, I intended to go down 
to Bunker Hill on Monday, and get into the army proper ; but 
it became so clear that they were about to be in rapid motion, 
that I saw there would be no opportunity to preach just now, 
and I should simply be in the way; So I propose to fall back 
to Charlottesville, and wait until the army is quiet again. By 
the way, when at the camp of Corse's Brigade the other day. 
Major C. and Lieutenant F. of the Fifteenth Virginia, two Baptist 
brethren whom I had not met before, made me a present of a 
hat, which cost them ;^20 here, and would have cost twice as 
much in Richmond. I take this as a token that your army 
evangelists will not lack for friends. I have been treated with 
great kindness by Rev. Messrs. Graham and Dosh, and Rev. 
Dr. Boyd, pastors in Winchester, and have received much pleas- 
ure and valuable aid in the common work from the presence 
here of my cherished friend. Rev. J. Wm. Jones, chaplain 
Thirteenth Virginia, who is surely one of the most useful men 
in the service. 

" Very truly yours, 

" John A. Broadus." 

The meetings which we held in Winchester and in the camps 



316 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

around, and our labors in the crowded hospitals were a fit prep- 
aration for the grand work which followed when we reached 
the line of the Rapidan, and the deep interest shown by the 
soldiers was a prophecy of the " season of refreshing from the 
presence of the Lord " which was just ahead of us. 

"A writer in the Central Presbyterian mentions a revival pro- 
gressing in the Rockbridge Artillery, with twenty-four additions 
to various churches on a profession of faith. He says : * Many 
ascribe the first turnings of their attention to the subject to 
tlie earnest, prayerful letters from home, urging them to turn to 
Christ! Remember this, Christian, when you write next to 
your friends in camp ; and so zvrite that God may bless your 
letters ; and ask Him to do so. A revival is in progress in 
Corse's Brigade, Pickett's Division, Army of Northern Virginia, 
and about 200 have shared in the outpouring of God's Spirit." 

" Rev. S. W. Howerton, chaplain of the Fifteenth North Caro- 
linia Regiment, reports seventy hopeful conversions and many 
anxious inquirers in it. * Every company has prayers, nightly, 
immediately after roll-call, and nearly all attend and are respect- 
ful ; the officers, in some instances, conducting the exercises 
and leading in prayer.' — Rev. G. W. Camp, army missionary 
at Kingston, North Carolina, baptized five converts, August 2, 
in the river Neuse." 

The special correspondent of the Richmond Enquirer, under 
date August 12, writes : " Yesterday the chaplains of the Second 
and Third Corps held their regular meeting, and after a very ex- 
cellent sermon from Rev. B. T. Lacy, formerly of Fredericksburg, 
most interesting reports were made, showing that a high state 
of religious feeling pervades these two corps. General Ewell 
was present at the meeting, and manifested much interest in the 
proceedings." 

Rev. John J. Hyman writes, from Orange : *' We are holding a 
protracted meeting of very great interest in Thomas's Brigade. 
Large numbers are seeking the Saviour, and there are many 
who are asking for tracts and hymn-books. If you can spare 
an army missionary to us, he would be gladly welcomed. We 
would say to such an one, ' Come over and help us.' " 

Rev. J. H. Harris writes, from Mercer county, Virginia : " I 
feel much encouraged by the anxiety which is manifested by the 
troops for the printed page. They press around me so eagerly 
as soon as the benediction is pronounced, and beg for tracts and 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 317 

Testaments. I have been aiding Elder M. Bibb, who is carrying 
on a fine meeting in his regiment. Ten have professed conver- 
sion while many more are seeking after the Saviour." — A. E. D. 

" During the whole effort, from last spring, 185 persons came 
forward for prayer, and 104 made a profession of faith. Of this 
number I have baptized forty-six, and I know of three or four 
others who expect to unite with us. Those who have joined the 
Methodists number forty-nine. I desire to feel profoundly grate- 
ful to God that our labors have been so extensively blessed. Out 
of about 1,500 men, we thus have lOO who, if they are not made 
better soldiers, we know they are not made zvorse — and in re- 
spect to their morals, we know they are greatly elevated ; and, 
what is of no mean importance, they are prepared for life or death ; 
and should they be permitted to return home, it will be to bless 
their friends and build up the Redeemer's Kingdom among them. 
I would I could say this of all, both officers and men, through- 
out the Confederacy. 

" M. Bibb, Chaplain Sixtieth Virginia Regiment." 

A writer from the army says : ^' I wish all the members of our 
Churches could be here and hear how fervently the soldiers pray 
that the revival of religion in the army may reach the Churches 
at home ; that their brethren at home may be turned from the 
sins of extortion and speculation ; and that all may be brought 
to humble themselves before God." 

" There are great demands for evangelists in the army. Some 
have recently entered upon this service, and are enjoying the 
Divine blessing, A delightful revival is in progress near Drewry's 
Bluff, in which Elder A. Broaddus, Sr., has been engaged from 
the beginning of the meeting. There have been eighty profes- 
sions of conversion ; forty backsliders have been reclaimed, and 
and twenty-four persons baptized. We are very anxious to 
secure the services of several ministers adapted to this kind of 
labor. The brethren engaged in the revival at Drewry's Bluff are 
almost broken down, and need instant help. 

"A. E. Dickinson, Superintendent. 

** Richmond, Virginia." 

"A majority of the Thirty-second Mississippi Regiment are 
Church-members." 



318 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

''Messrs. Editors: The meeting held with the Twenty-sixth 
Regiment, Wise's Brigade, which commenced more than four 
weeks ago, is still in progress. About 175 have professed relig- 
ion, among whom are a number of what are called backsliders. 
I have reason to believe that a majority of the backsliders were 
never converted until since the commencement of our meeting. 
The Lord give them grace to slide forward the balance of their 
lives ! Brother Wiatt has baptized sixty-four, and about an equal 
number have united with a Methodist class, lately organized in 
camp. Major Garrett, a Methodist preacher, baptized nine the 
other day in the James river. In haste, 

'*A. Broaddus." 

" Richmond, July 23. 
'T have only time to say to your readers that the meeting with 
the Twenty-sixth Virginia Regiment, Wise's Brigade, is still 
deeply interesting ; that I left this morning to attend to some do- 
mestic affairs in Bedford ; that Dr. Jeter has just promised to go 
down to-morrow and assist the chaplain the balance of the week ; 
that Brother Wiatt has baptized seventy-two up to this time ; that 
185 have professed religion; that the exercises throughout have 
been characterized by deep luart excitement, without any noise 
or confusion ; that I expect to return in eight or ten days ; that I 
fondly hope that many others will be converted ; and that I am 
still yours affectionately, 

" A. Broaddus." 

" Kingston, North Carolina, July 28. 
" I am now assisting the chaplain of the Forty-second North 
Carolina Regiment, General Martin's Brigade, in a series of meet- 
ings every night when the weather permits. The congregations 
are very large and attentive. Many come forward and ask God's 
people to pray for them. I am very much pleased with my new 
field of labor thus far. The soldiers appreciate kindness. 

" G. W. Camp." 

By the first of August General Lee's army was camped along 
the line of the Rapidan (from Liberty Mills, above Orange Court 
House, to Raccoon Ford, below), and God blessed us with " sea- 
sons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord " in nearly every 
camp. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. , 319 

A large volume would scarcely suffice to record the details of 
this great revival, and I can only give here a few illustrations 
as specimens of the whole character of the work. 

From the ist of August to the 1st of October I averaged two 
sermons every day, besides other work, and other chaplains were 
even more laborious, so pressing were the demands upon us; and 
I witnessed the professed conversion of hundreds of our brave 
men. 

My own brigade (Smith's, formerly Early's Virginia) was for- 
tunately camped near Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church and a Metho- 
dist church in the lower part of Orange county, and Rev. J. P. 
Garland, of the Forty-ninth Virginia, Rev. Mr. Slaughter, of the 
Fifty-eighth Virginia, and myself united in holding meetings in 
both of these houses. We were fortunate in having at different 
times Rev. Dr. J. A. Broadus, Rev. F. M. Barker (the gifted, 
eloquent and lamented preacher who took in my tent the cold 
which resulted in his death). Rev. L. J. Haley and others to help 
us, and the work went graciously on until interrupted, but not 
stopped, by the " Bristoe campaign." There were 250 professions 
of conversion, and a revival among Christians, of the highest 
value. 

During this period I had also the general conduct of revival 
meetings in Hoke's North Carolina Brigade, Gordon's Georgia 
Brigade, and Hays's Louisiana Brigade — having services at differ- 
ent hours and providing other preachers as I was able — and 
helped brother-chaplains in a number of other brigades. 

I had a beautiful baptistery made at the foot of the hill near 
our camp, and had some of the most impressive baptisms there 
which I have ever witnessed. 

My readers will, I trust, pardon me for so frequently repro- 
ducing my own letters from the army, but having begn written 
at the time they give a much more accurate picture of the scenes 
they describe than I could now produce. The following notices 
the beginning of our work on the Rapidan : 

*' Mt. Pisgah Church, Orange County, Virginia, 

"August 5, 1863. 

"Dear Bretliren : When it was my pleasure, nine years ago, to 

hear, from the pulpit of this church, a sermon from good Brother 

Herndon Frazer, I little dreamed that I was ever to witness the 

scene which now surrounds me. Then I came on a quiet Sab- 



320 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

bath to hear an earnest proclamation of the ' Gospel of peace ' — ■ 
now I see, on every side, the implements of deadly strife, and 
hear the busy hum of the camp. Yet the scene shall not be 
wholl}^ changed ; for the manly voices of war-worn veterans shall 
chant at morn and eve the same good old hymns wh* tJuii 
echoed through this temple of the living God. The ' Gospel of 
peace ' shall still be proclaimed to those who strive for their 
country's weal, and the voice of prayer shall still ascend to the 
God who then met with His people. So much has occurred since 
I last wrote that I scarce know where to begin or stop. Our 
sojourn in Winchester was rendered most delightful by the 
warm-hearted hospitality of the people — they threw open to us 
their churches, their homes and their hearts — and we left there 
with many bitter regrets that we were compelled to leave such a 
people to the * tender mercies ' of such a foe. Brother John A. 
Broadus preached every day (twice a day, sometimes) for two 
weeks, and despite the bad weather and other adverse circum- 
stances the congregations were large and attentive, and many 
'precious seed' were sown which shall, in due season, bring 
forth their fruit. We were especially indebted to the pastors 
who were present (Rev. Dr. Boyd, Rev. Mr. Graham, Rev. Mr. 
Dosh and Rev. Mr. Brooke) for the tender of their churches, as 
also for many personal kindnesses — they were Christian brethren 
with whom it was pleasant to hold intercourse. Dr. Burrows, 
of Richmond, was also there with the ' ambulance committee,' 
and preached us several sermons, which were none the less ac- 
ceptable because the preacher was constantly seen on the street 
with coat off and hard at work amongst the wounded, and did 
not have on exactly his ' t'other clothes ' when he entered the 
pulpit, as some rascal had lightened his wardrobe on the route. 
Rev. Dr. William J. Hoge also preached several sermons to large 
and attentive congregations. I must not omit either to mention 
the labors of Brother M. D. Anderson, who was untiring in the 
hospitals, and whose * silent preachers ' could be seen in every, 
ward. By the way, the 'Ambulance Committee,' of Richmond, 
are now an institution — they do noble work after every battle, 
and their arrival is always hailed with joy by the poor sufferers 
whom they come to relieve. And the ladies of Winchester will 
not be soon forgotten by the thousands who received their bene- 
factions. Their praise is in the mouths of all who had an oppor- 
tunity of witnessing their entire devotion to the comfort of the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 321 • 

wounded. I was in the hospitals every day, and I never wit- 
nessed more constant attention to our wounded than was shown 
by these noble women, who were at the side of our poor fellows 
from morning until night. And besides their attention in the 
hospitals they threw open their houses — in a word, they did 
their whole duty to our brave boys who fell fighting to relieve 
them from the return of the foe. Our march from Winchester 
was a tedious one, and many fell out by the way, though most 
of them have since come up. Yet, notwithstanding the weari- 
ness of the men, I found frequent opportunities for religious 
services, and deeply interested listeners. And the tracts and 
papers I was enabled to distribute were eagerly read. Since we 
reached this camp the opportunities for religious services have 
been very fine. I have two appointments a day for preaching — 
shall have three after to-day, and might find opportunities for 
preaching even more frequently to large and attentive congrega- 
tions. Now is the time for our brethren to comply with the 
resolutions of the General Association, and ' spend part of their 
time in visiting and preaching in the army.' We may move 
from this line if the movements of the enemy render it necessary, 
but shall not, probably, go far, or have a battle very soon. So, 
if brethren really desire to work in this wide field of usefulness, 
let them come on at once, and they shall find plenty to do. I 
expect to administer the ordinance of baptism to-morrow, and 
trust that it will not be the last time while we are enjoying this 
brief season of repose. Brother J. A. Broadus was compelled, 
by hoarseness, to leave us the other day, but we hope he may be 
able to return again in a few days. Our army is rapidly increas- 
ing in numbers, the weary are becoming rested, and the general 
efficiency improved. We have very few croakers — they are found 
chiefly amongst those who stay at home, and have done nothing 
for our cause ; but, on the contrary, our boys are cheerful and 
confident — longing for peace and a return to the sweets of their 
homes, yet willing to spend and be spent to protect their loved 
ones. I rejoice to see that our Christian President has again 
called the nation to humiliation and prayer, and shall be greatly 
disappointed if it is not universally observed. Our country 
Churches ought, by all means, to have prayer-meetings where 
they cannot have the services of their pastors ; and let me sug- 
gest that the spiritual wants of our army should form a subject 
of prayer on the occasion. " Occasional." 

21 . 



322 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

Rev. L. J. Haley, in a private note, says : " There is a great 
religious interest and revival in the army. It has been my 
pleasure recently to spend a week with Smith's Brigade, Early's 
Division. I preached every day while I was with them, and was 
greatly delighted with my trip. There are religious revivals all 
over the army. Many are turning to God, and the good work 
is largely on the increase. The army is undoubtedly the great 
field for successful labor." 

" On last evening fifteen were buried with Christ in baptism. 
And still the good work goes on. Our meetings are increasing 
in interest, and each evening scores of soldiers are inquiring, 
* What shall we do to be saved ? ' Brother Kitzmiller has been 
laboring with us with a zeal and earnestness characteristic of a 
true Christian. 

"John H. Tomkies, Chaplain Seventh Florida Regiment." 

" Camp near Fredericksburg, Law's Brigade, August 17. 

'^Messrs. Editors : I write to inform you of an interesting meet- 
ing which has been in progress for several days in this brigade. 
Brother W. H. Carroll, of Alabama, is with us, laboring earnestly 
and zealously for the conversion of souls, persuading men to be 
Christians. His services are very acceptable to us, and I verily 
believe well-pleasing in the sight of God. I have for a long 
time wished to see the power of God made manifest in our camp. 
Some of the regiments, particularly the Fourth Alabama, have 
been without a chaplain the most of the time since they entered the 
service. It has seemed to me that we have been neglected, and 
that none cared for our spiritual welfare ; that we were abandoned, 
each one to pursue his own course down the road to sin and 
destruction, without any spiritual adviser to tell us of our duties, 
and warn us of impending danger. But thanks be to God, He 
who rules and watches over us, and is ever mindful of the wel- 
fare of poor erring man, has in His good Providence directed the 
steps of Brother Carroll, and is manifesting His love and presence 
in our midst in the conviction and conversion of souls. A deep 
and powerful conviction of sin prevails, and religion has become 
the chief topic of conversation with many. Many of the noble 
sons of Alabama, who have stemmed the tide of many battles in 
defence of civil liberty, are now bowing humbly at the Cross, 
endeavoring to throw off the shackles of sin, and seeking liberty 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 323 

from the thraldom of Satan. How many parents' hearts will be 
gladdened when the glorious news of a revival in our camp 
reaches them ! We feel assured that we have the prayers of the 
parents and friends of these noble soldier boys, and we ask an 
interest in your prayers and the prayers of all true lovers of 
religion, that God will carry on the good work he has so gra- 
ciously begun until this entire brigade and entire army shall 
become the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, and our every 
heart shall be attuned to His praise. O, for an humble, Chris- 
tian army ! We can never obtain liberty and peace until we 
humble ourselves in the dust before God. Should we not strive 
earnestly and faithfully for this end ? Let us all strive faithfully 
for this glorious result, and peace will wreathe our banners here, 
and unalloyed happiness be our portion in the life to come. 

"J. W. H." 

" Chaffin's Bluff, August 22. 
^^ Dear Brother Dickinso7i : God has seen fit, in His mercy, 
greatly to bless the labors of His servants in this (General Wise's) 
brigade. We have recently closed a meeting in the Twenty- 
sixth Regiment, which resulted in the hopeful conversion of 150 
souls ; while forty or fifty more, many of them scarcely recog- 
nized as the followers of Christ, have been strengthened and en- 
couraged to take a more positive stand for their Saviour and His 
cause. Rev. Mr. Miller, of Forty-sixth Regiment, has been 
laboring faithfully with those under his care, with occasional 
help, and as the result about two hundred have been brought, 
as we trust, from darkness to light. Brother A. Broaddus, Sr., 
and myself are now laboring in a meeting at the Bluff. Two 
have professed conversion, and several have been built up and 
strengthened in the faith. 

" P. S. — Monday. Since writing the above, our meeting at the 
Bluff has greatly increased in interest. Brother Broaddus was 
taken sick on Saturday. Yesterday I labored almost alone. 
Preached twice ; conducted two prayer-meetings, exhorting five 
or six times. Six have professed conversion, and last night 
thirty presented themselves for prayer. The Lord is with us. 

" G. F. Bagby." 

Rev. J. J. D. Renfroe, chaplain Tenth Alabama Regiment, 



324 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

writes as follows : *' We have a splendid protracted meeting in 
progress in the brigade. About twenty-five have been baptized, 
and others have joined other Churches and the interest is increas- 
ing. I believe that lOO anxious souls presented themselves for 
prayer last night after the sermon." 

Brother R. W. Cridlin, chaplain Thirty-eighth Virginia Regi- 
ment, writes me an interesting account of a work of grace in his 
brigade. In almost every part of the army God is at work win- 
ning souls to Himself The cry is, " Send us tracts, hymns and 
Testaments." Colporters and evangelists are also in great de- 
mand. It cannot be that the people at home will withhold 
money when it is needed for this work of saving souls — the souls 
of our brave soldiers. — A. E. D. 

" Camp NEAR Hamilton's Crossing, August 27, 1863. 
"A glorious revival is going on in Major Henry's Battalion, 
Captain Riley's Battery. I have been laboring with them several 
days, meeting twice a day. The men are deeply interested in 
the meetings. Four have professed a hope in Christ and many 
are seriously concerned. Last night twelve came forward for 
prayer. Dr. W. F. Broaddus has promised to preach for us to- 
night. Will not some of our brethren come and assist us in this 
glorious work ? The brethren in the company take a lively in- 
terest in it. I have been distributing a great many copies of the 
Herald among them, and find they are eagerly sought after. 
Pray for us, dear brethren, that this work may continue until all 
of this company shall become faithful and happy Christians. 

" M. D. Anderson, 

" Colporter A. N. Va." 

A writer from the Army of Northern Virginia to the Biblical 
Recorder says : " I have often heard complaints about the hard- 
ships of a soldier's life, but is there a Christian who would not 
willingly suffer for years all the toils and hardships which a world 
can heap on the mortal frame, provided he could enjoy again the 
blessedness of his first- moments with Jesus ? It.does seem to 
me that the joy of the Christian with an army in the field ap- 
proaches nearer the essence of true religion than that exhibited 
under any other circumstances of the present day, when persecu- 
tion is unknown." 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 325 

"Chaplains' Association of the Second and Third Army 
Corps. 

" This association was formed in the Second or Jackson's 
Corps, March i6, 1863, and has held weekly meetings ever since, 
unless prevented by providential circumstances. We meet on 
each Tuesday, and first hear a sermon by the last chairman. 
Our doors are open to the public. The state of religious interest 
before and after the battle of Chancellorsville has been reported 
as most encouraging. Many openly assumed the armor of the 
Christian and numbers were inquiring the way to Jesus. Sweet 
communion seasons were held, where new-born souls first feasted 
on the shed blood and the broken body of the Lamb. Some of 
these never ate again on earth, for they were summoned to go 
up higher and sit with Jesus Himself Our glorious Christian 
hero, leader and friend, fell in that fight, and our hearts mourned. 
The army felt deeply the blow. We trust the affliction has been 
blessed to us all. A new corps was formed for General A. P. 
Hill, and a part of General Jackson's corps was taken to fill it. 
Our association was then extended to both corps. 

" We met first, since the battle of Gettysburg, in the Baptist 
church at Orange Court House, on Tuesday, August ii, 1863. 
Rev. B. T. Lacy preached from 2 Cor. iv. 14 : ' The love of Christ 
constraineth us.' Rev. A. M. Marshall, of the Baptist Church 
and chaplain of the Twelfth Georgia Infantry, was chosen chair- 
man. After receiving new members, we had a free conversation 
about the state of religion in our army. A wonderful change 
had passed over the army from the quiet and regular meetings 
at Hamilton's Crossing to the bustle and activity of an invasive 
campaign. The chaplains had been diligent in holding services 
with their regiments. Some had prayed with and exhorted them 
while lying in the trenches in line of battle. And though some 
had feared the results of this campaign upon the moral and spirit- 
ual welfare of the soldiers, and there were some excesses to be 
deeply regretted, yet there were many conversations on the 
march or in the tittmilt of battle. Now that we are quiet in camp 
an intense interest in spiritual things is found to pervade the 
army. Perhaps there is a more hopeful and blessed reviving of 
God's work here now than ever before. In Ramseuf's, Doles's, 
Smith's, Gordon's, Wright's, Thomas's, Posey's and Scales's Bri- 
gades God was working wonderfully. In some, officers and men 
were together bowed under the heavy burden of their sins; in all, 



326 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

many were earnestly seeking their souls' salvation, and many 
were rejoicing in hope of reconciliation to God through His Son 
Jesus. In Hays's Brigade, in which there is no Protestant chap- 
lain, in a little prayer-meeting, five persons had professed conver- 
sion and wish to join some Church. A neighboring chaplain, on 
application, went over to assist them. The prayer-meeting was 
now a great congregation and the interest was growing. Wil- 
cox's Brigade is now blessed for the first time by an outpouring 
of God's Spirit. There have been some thirty conversions therein 
during the week, ending August 1 8th. It is harvest time 
with the army. Jesus is the Husbandman, and angels are 
singing over the rich harvest. Laborers are needed here. 
Who will come to help, Lord ? Who will pray for richer 
blessings on this noble army? Rev. Theo. Pryor, D. D., now 
missionary in Longstreet's or First Corps, said that though he 
had been a pastor for thirty-one years, he felt thankful to God 
for opening the way for him to labor in the army. He had never 
enjoyed the sense of God's presence in preaching as here. At 
his last meeting many had requested prayer for their souls. Rev. 
J. A. Broadus testified similarly. He had been deceived as to 
preaching among the soldiers ; for not lialf had been told him. 
He had no idea of the state of religious feeling here, though he 
had had more opportunities than many out of the army to know 
the truth of the matter. He had never enjoyed preaching so 
much. A far larger proportion of men attend divine services 
here than at home. They come because they choose here. Rev. 
D. B. Ewing, chaplain of the post at Gordonsville, had been much 
blessed in his labors in the hospital. He never met with a re- 
pulse in presenting Christ. Many were converted. Judging the 
religious sentiment of the army from cases sent to the hospital, 
he pronounced it better than that of the Church at home. The 
scarred veteran would meet with a religious chill on returning to 
his Church. 

"This is a brief account of the results of our meeting on August 
1 1 th and on August 1 8th, when the conference was continued. 
At this latter meeting Rev. J. A. Broadus preached from 2 Cor. 
ii. i6: 'And who is sufficient for these things.' He presented the 
apostle's example as worthy of our imitation amid all discourage- 
ments ; and tenderly stated and forcibly illustrated the grounds 
of St. Paul's confidence. After some further business, the asso- 
ciation adjourned to meet on Tuesday, August 25th, at the same 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 327 

place. We left feeling how blessed it was to work for God at 
such a time as this. 

" L. C. Vass, Secretary." 

"Camp near Orange Court House, September i. 
*' For nearly a week I have been aiding Rev. J. J. D. Renfroe, 
chaplain Tenth Alabama, in a protracted meeting. I found 
Brother Renfroe nearly broken down, having been for three 
weeks preaching daily. Our congregations have been very 
large ; for some distance the entire grove being crowded with 
deeply interested listeners. Never in my life have I seen men so 
eager to hear and be profited by the word spoken. Though I 
have preached nine times I have not seen one listless hearer 
among all the hundreds who have been in attendance. Ndt a 
word has been spoken during the services, and, so far as I could 
see, every man has seemed profoundly impressed with the so- 
lemnity and importance of the occasion. It is impossible to say 
how many have asked to be prayed for. On several nights not 
less than from 150 to 200 made this request of us. Many have 
professed conversion — not less, I should think, than 175. Last 
night our congregation was considerably larger than on any 
previous night, and the interest is evidently on the increase. 
Brother Renfroe is receiving many for baptism. While our meet- 
ing has been going on so pleasantly, just on the opposite hill, 
about a hundred yards distant, in the same brigade, is another 
of equal interest. It is being conducted by a Baptist minister, a 
lieutenant and a Methodist chaplain. Fifty have professed con- 
version. I will give a few facts, by way of illustrating the char- 
acter of this work of grace. I announced at one of the meetings 
that there was an assortment of tracts in the chaplain's tent. In 
a few moments after I found numbers crowding around the tent 
and helping themselves. Each man looked over the packages 
and selected such as he wanted, and consequently every tract 
which explained the plan of salvation, or which treated of Christ, 
was taken, and the others left. As the soldier's eye would glance 
over the titles, when he came to ' The Great Question Answered,' 
by A. Fuller, or, ' Come to Jesus,' his face beamed with joy. No 
one seemed to feel that he had time to read of anything else ex- 
cept the way to be saved. Another interesting feature in the 
meeting is the deep solicitude which all seem to have that they 
may be genuinely converted. The young converts often come 



328 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ;^ 

to US privately deeply affected, in many cases weeping and trem- 
bling, to ask for further instruction as to what constitutes con- 
version. They have an unspeakable dread of being deceived on 
this point. One young man, the son of a Baptist minister, said 
to me : ' Oh, sir, I have a little hope, but I am afraid to confess it, 
for fear it may not be well founded.' Another said that for 
months he had been hoping that he was a Christian, but that he 
was *so afraid \hdX he might backslide and dishonor his Master.' 
It is interesting, too, to see how long the work of grace has been 
in progress in many hearts. Several have for-more than a year 
been under deep conviction and been seeking the Saviour. Not 
a few have received their first religious impressions on the battle- 
field. I think eight or ten spoke of having been convicted at the 
Chancellorsville fight, while an interesting young man assured 
us that during the battle of Seven Pines, while his comrades 
were falling around him, he promised the Lord that he would 
love and serve Him ; from that day to this he has been trying to 
make good his vow. Without doubt, in hundreds of instances, 
the shock of battle has been sanctified to the saving of souls. 
It is worthy of record that this meeting is greatly developing the 
gifts of Christians. Many a brother is aroused to his duty to 
put forth active efforts for the salvation of sinners. Two of the 
young men, members of the Tenth Alabama, are now holding a 
protracted meeting in a neighboring camp. They go over every 
evening and preach the Gospel, comforting and encouraging 
Christians and warning sinners. A revival has sprung up under 
their labors. A chaplain of a Virginia regiment remarked, yes- 
terday, that the Master intends honoring many of these young 
men by putting them in the ministry. We have, from the be- 
ginning of the war, been pleading with the Churches to send 
preachers to the army, and with some little success. It seems, 
now, that the army itself is to produce a supply. I beg that all 
through the land earnest and constant prayer be made that scores 
and hundreds of Christian men in the army may be called of 
God to the work of the ministry. How refreshing is the thought 
of hundreds of such ministers returning, after the war is over, to 
aid in establishing Churches and in preaching the Gospel to 
* every creature.' Rev. J. J. D. Renfroe, a laborious and suc- 
cessj^l chaplain, was for a brief period in the employ of the Sun- 
day-school and Publication Board. When he made known the 
fact that he had arrived at the conclusion that it was his duty to 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 329 

give himself to the army, his churches were very unwilhng to 
give him up. At one church, after several had spoken against 
his leaving, three of the sisters remarked, that while they valued 
as highly as any Brother Renfroe's services, they could cheer- 
fully give him up to labor in the army, for they had sons there 
for whose conversion they felt very deeply. Each of these three 
sisters has received a great blessing. The sons of two of them 
have professed conversion, and the son of the third has been 
restored to the fellowship of God's people, from whom he had 
wandered. I cite this incident with the hope of encouraging the 
churches to give their pastors, at least for a few months, to this 
work. Your own son, or brother or father, may be converted 
through the preaching of your minister in camp. And if this 
may not be, some one else may be reached and saved. Then 
encourage your pastor to go, and send on what funds you may 
be able to contribute, with which to publish camp hymns, Testa- 
ments and tracts for our brave soldiers. 

"A. E. Dickinson." 

I have already described the scene in this same brigade 
several weeks later, when at one service 6io came forward for 
prayer and over 200 professed conversion. I shall continue, 
instead of a connected narrative, to give letters written at the 
time, giving accounts of this wonderful work. 

The chaplain of the Twelfth Tennessee Regiment states " that 
the lieutenant-colonel, adjutant, surgeon, seven captains and 
thirteen lieutenants are professors of religion ; that not a single 
officer was addicted to profane swearing, card-playing or drunk- 
enness ; that a very large proportion of the men as well as 
officers pray in public, and heartily second any efforts for good ; 
that the regiment has in it the largest Sabbath-school he ever 
saw ; that the number of the faithful has been greatly multiplied, 
and that there are almost daily accessions to their number." 

''Dear Brethren Editors: Grant me a small space to report 
what the Lord has done and is doing for us in Mahone's Bri- 
gade. This brigade has five Virginia regiments (2,000 men), and 
there is not a chaplain in it. The men tell me, that until recently, 
they had not heard a sermon for six months. Although deprived 
of this privilege, they forsook not the assembling of themselves 
for prayer. And God, who ever hears the earnest prayers of 



330 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

His chosen, is now pouring out upon them His gracious Spirit. 
For the last two weeks they have been suppHed with preaching 
twice a day, morning and night. During this time about eighty 
have made a profession of faith in Christ, and large numbers 
come forward nightly and ask us to pray for them. The 
interest seems to be rather increasinor than diminishinor. Brother 
J. A. Broadus and myself are still trying to point them to the 
Saviour. My dear brethren, we are realizing here all the primi- 
tive simplicity with which we are accustomed to think of John 
the Baptist, of Christ, and of the apostles, as standing in* the 
midst of dense crowds and speaking to as many as could get 
near enough to hear them. I cannot fully describe the work and 
its peculiar joys; yotc must come and see. I freely confess, that 
it far surpasses anything I ever expected to realize. There is 
no confusion or disorder, as you might suppose ; but, on the 
contrary, the attention is earnest and constant. Brethren, do 
come and help us, for we are very few. 

N " Hilary E. Hatcher." 

"Orange Court House, Virginia, September lo. 
^'Dcar Brctlireii : It gives me pleasure to report more definitely 
this week, the state of religious interest in Mahone's Brigade, 
where we have been holdingr a series of meetinsfs for three 
weeks. On last Sabbath, Brother Andrew Broaddus, Jr., at my 
request, baptized thirty-one candidates for admission into the 
Baptist Church ; nineteen others are awaiting to be baptized, and 
I learn that others will report themselves in a few days. At 
present 146 are reported to have found peace in Christ, and have 
asked for membership among some one of the evangelical de- 
nominations. The interest is unabated. Scores and hundreds 
are asking, 'What must we do to be saved ? ' 

" H. E. H., Army Evangelist." 

Rev. B. T. Lac)^ writes to the Central Frcsbytcrian from the 
Army of Northern Virginia : '' Since the arrival of the army at 
its present location, about 1,000 have professed faith in Christ, 
and more than 2,000 are earnestl}' inquiring the way of salva- 
tion." 

" Camp, Twenty-sixth Virginia, September 12. 

''Dear Brotlicr Dickinson : Find enclosed the sum of Si 86.98, 
subscribed by this regiment to aid in circulating Bibles, Testa- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 331 

ment, tracts, etc., in the army. We have been very much in- 
debted to you for about two years, and we very cheerfully con- 
tribute the above amount. Many in this regiment, no doubt, 
will, in the great day, thank you and those co-operating with 
you, for sending and bringing them the ' glorious Gospel of the 
blessed God ' in so many forms. Thousands of pages of your 
tracts have been distributed and read with pleasure and profit. 
Hundreds of your Bibles and Testaments have been presented to 
us and most highly prized, I assure you. And your ministers 
have* come to us and most faithfully preached the * word of life.' 

" We have been holding prayer-meetings constantly in the 
chapel for weeks, and we scarcely ever fail, how tired soever the 
men may be, to have a large congregation. It is a glorious 
sight to behold a hundred or two of young Christians min- 
gling their voices in praise to their Saviour. Many of them 
exhort and pray in public, and there is quite a development of 
piety and of gifts. We have inquirers still, and some are giving 
their hearts to the Saviour. I have already baptized seventy- 
one in this regiment, and there are others to be baptized. Nearly 
as many have united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
quite a number with the Presbyterian Church. I have also bap- 
tized thirty-six in the Thirty-fourth and Forty-sixth, some of 
who mprofessed conversion at our meeting, and others in their 
own regiments. Your brother in Christ, 

" Wm. E. Wiatt, Chaplain Twenty-sixth Virginia." 

A writer in the Southern Presbyterian, from the Army of 
Northern Virginia, states that since the forces reached their 
present location, the conversions reported in the Second and 
Third Corps alone, are at the rate of 200 a week, " and the work 
is widening and deepening, so far as man can judge." 

*' Orange Court House, September 20. 
^^Dear Brother Dickinson : After receiving my commission as 
evangelist, I proceeded to Fredericksburg, where I labored with 
the Eighth andT^inth Georgia Regiments, who were quartered 
in the city. There was then, and had been for some time, a deep 
religious feeling throughout the whole brigade — Anderson's — 
and at the instance of Brother Burnham, Chaplain of the Ninth 
Georgia Regiment, I made an appointment to baptize some 



332 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

fifteen or twenty the following- Sabbath. But before the next 
Sabbath the entire corps had been ordered South. Thus broken 
up in my plans in that region, I changed my base, and came to 
Orange Court House, where there were thousands of soldiers 
eager to hear the Gospel. In connection with Brother Gwin, 
of Rome, Georgia, I preached first in Wright's Brigade, but 
orders came for this brigade to move to the front, and again 
was I forced to seek a new field of labor. For the past four or 
five days I have been preaching in Lane's North Carolina Bri- 
gade, with great pleasure, by reason of interest manifested by the 
soldiers in the important subject of personal salvation. There 
have been as many as twenty-five and thirty forward for prayer 
at a time. Three were baptized last Thursday, and others have 
connected themselves with other denominations. On yesterday 
I aided in ordination of Brother Eatman, of North Carolina, a 
chaplain m this brigade, and for four years past an acceptable 
Methodist preacher. I am to-day going to Pegram's battalion 
of artillery, and if the prospects are encouraging, will remain 
with them several days. Nearly the entire army is on the 
Rapidan, with the enemy full in front, and a battle imminent ; 
there is, therefore, but little opportunity for holding protracted 
meetings. 

" T. H. Pritchard." 

"Near Orange Court House, September 25. 
''Messrs. Editors: You will be gratified, and the hearts of 
many of your readers will be much encouraged, to know that, 
during our long inactivity, the Spirit of God has been working 
in our midst, and that many sinners have professed conversion, 
and many more have offered themselves as fit subjects for 
prayer. A glorious meeting was closed in this brigade 
(Walker's) about two weeks ago, having been exceedingly 
successful in its design ; for more than thirty sinners appeared 
happily converted to God, through our Redeemer. Prayer- 
meetings were held constantly from night to night, and we have 
cause to think that they have resulted in some good. It is 
indeed a great privilege for the followers of Christ to meet 
frequently and unite in singing the songs of Zion. Religious 
men in camp have many trials and temptations to contend with, 
but we have the blessed consolation of knowing that the word 
of God contains many cheering promises ; and though we are 



I 



OR, RELIGION IX LEE's ARMY. 333 

much tempted, we know that if we approach the Throne of Grace 
in an humble and sincere manner, our prayers will be heard and 
answered, and that we will be sufficiently strengthened to. over- 
come all temptations, and to go on our way rejoicing. Brother 
Anderson is now conducting a "protracted meeting in the Fortieth 
Virginia Regiment (Walker's Brigade), with a bright prospect 
of happy results. Rev. Mr. Anderson has been an instrument in 
God's hand of doing great good, both in his own regiment 
(Fortieth Virginia) and in the Fift}--fifth Virginia. 

"' Baptist." 

*^ Brethren Editoi'S : . . . Reaching Orange Court House late 
in the afternoon, I walked out about two miles to Doles's Brigade, 
and was almost immediately put to work. On reaching the 
preaching place, I was agreeably surprised at the arrangements. 
While I was in the field we were alwavs movincr, and nothing- 
better than the ground was ever used by either preacher or 
people, and when I preached at night, some brother would hold 
a torch or candle while I read hymn or chapter. But here I 
found a large amphitheatre of log-seats, with a pulpit in the centre, 
covered with an arbor, and flanked on either hand by a platform, 
whose blazing lightwood illuminated every face in the vast con- 
gregation. The sea of upturned, earnest faces, and the songs 
swelling- from hundreds of manlv voices and making- the forests 
resound, I was, from the accounts received, prepared for. But 
they were none the less impressive, and I felt it indeed a luxury 
to preach under such circumstances. I could not help wishing 
Dr. Jeter were there to stir those masses with his trumpet tones ; 
and O! howReynoldson would have revelled in such labors I How 
he would have charmed those crowds! To the last the interest 
increased. Every morning inquirers came to the inquiry-meet- 
ing, while at night scores and scores came forward for prayer. 
In the adjoining brigade, also, an interesting meeting was in 
progress. On Sabbath, Brother Marshall baptized twent}' candi- 
dates, and appropriate Scripture was read to an immense con- 
course covering the adjoining hillside. Some half a dozen 
other baptizings were going on at the same hour in the neighbor- 
hood. 

" I feared this move to the front would interfere with my 
operations, instead of which it facilitated them. On Monday, I 



334 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

preached to nearly all of Johnson's Division, which was 
bivouaced in a large plain. Lying as they thus were, close to- 
gether,^ and without their usual resources, a larger audience was 
secured than would be possible in camp. In this division I met 
my old regiment, and also another containing many men from my 
town. On Tuesday I moved to the front. Here I met Brother 
J. Wm. Jones, who insisted on my preaching in his brigade. As 
they were right on the Rapidan, in sight and hearing of both the 
cannonading and sharp-shooting, which, of course, greatly in- 
terested the men, leading them to rush in crowds to a point 
commanding a view of what was going on, I expressed a doubt 
as to whether preaching was expedient. A soldier lying on the 
ground said, 'As soon as you begin, they will stop looking and 
come to hear you, and none will leave, either.' I found this 
literally true. In this brigade, as well as in a neighboring bat- 
talion of artillery where I preached, I found several of the 
members of my Church, who seemed so glad to see me, and 
gave such good accounts of themselves, that I felt sorry I had 
not sooner paid them a pastoral visit. My friends at home 
feared I would make myself sick in the army. Instead of this, 
I returned home invigorated in every respect. Preaching prin- 
cipally at night, I staid mainly in camp or bivouacs. But when- 
ever I desired the refreshment of a good //<5';;/^-meal or bed, they 
were heartily afforded by Brother Hiden and Brother Scott, who, 
with their wives, think they cannot be too kind and hospitable 
to preachers, even in these hard times, and in the trying circum- 
stances in which they are placed, surrounded by a large army. 
I should not omit to mention the cordial greeting and hospitality 
extended by officers of various denominations, and of none, and 
their testimony to the improvement in our army. I could not 
help noticing how many were reading their Testaments, even 
when they were lying on the roadside, and how they would 
gather in knots to spend a short leisure in singing. I tried once 
or twice to carry tracts, but in vain, as crowds of soldiers would 
gather around and humbly, but earnestly beg to relieve me. It 
was pleasant every day or two to meet Brothers Pritchard, 
Broaddus, Sr., and others, and compare notes. They will, 
doubtless, give you their impressions and experiences. 

"Affectionately, 

" Geo. B. Taylor. 
" Staunton, September 23." 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. . 335 

" Cumberland, September 23. 
'^Dear Brother Dickmson : I wish to give you a short account 
of a prayer-meeting to which I was invited, the 8th inst. This 
meeting was held with Captain Massey's Company (Company C), 
Nelson's Battalion, stationed near Gordonsville. When I arrived 
I found the brethren earnestly engaged in prayer. They were 
without preachers, but God had given them hearts to pray, and, 
in answer to their prayers, five of their comrades had professed 
faith in Christ. We continued the meetings six nights, with 
preaching, exhortation and pr.ayer, at which time they were 
broken up by the demonstration made by the enemy at Culpeper 
Court House. Twenty-two professed conversion, and about 
twenty-five were anxiously inquiring the way of life. In fact, 
the entire company, with three or four exceptions, seemed 
seriously impressed; also many others, from other companies 
of the battalion. Now that the reaping time has come, should 
not all God-fearing men be engaged, that the good Lord may 
send out more laborers to gather in the ripe harvest ? I have 
heard much of the wickedness of the camp, but at this time the 
Spirit of God has so far subdued the power of sin in the soul, 
that I heard but ojie oath, and did not see any immoral conduct 
during my sojourn. To God's name be all the glory. 

*'J. C. Perkins." 

Rev. Dr. J. C. Cranberry, who had at this time been appointed 
by his Church as one of their missionaries to the army, and whose 
able sermons and untiring labors were greatly blessed and made 
for him a warm place in the hearts of the soldiers, thus wrote to 
the Richmond Christian Advocate, early in September, 1863 : 

" I have been employed one month in my new position as a 
missionary to the army. Brother Evans having been compelled 
by ill health to resign his appointment, Bishop Early transferred 
me, at my request, from Ewell's to Longstreet's Corps. I naturally 
felt a preference to remain with those troops among whom I had 
labored as a chaplain from almost the commencement of the war. 
The last four weeks I have been preaching daily, and sometimes 
twice a day, in the brigades of Pickett's Division. I have never 
before witnessed such a widespread and powerful religious in- 
terest among the soldiers. They crowd eagerly to hear the 
Gospel, and listen with profound attention. Many hearts have 
been opened to receive the word of the Lord in every brigade. 



336 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

It would delight your heart to mark the seriousness, order, and 
deep feeling- which characterize all our meetings. In Armis- 
tead's Brigade, where I have been most constantly working in 
co-operation with Brother Cridlin, a Baptist, and chaplain of the 
Thirty-eighth Virginia, and with other ministers, there have been 
some seventy professions of conversion, and the altar is filled 
morning and night with penitents. The change is manifest in 
the whole camp. Men have put away their cards ; instead of 
blasphemy, the voice of prayer and the sweet songs of Zion are 
heard at all hours. There is little gambling, but all seem con- 
tented and interested. We have many proofs that it is a genuine 
and mighty work of grace. Yesterday reminded me of Sabbath 
at camp-meeting. There reigned here a deeper quiet. Divine 
services began at an early hour of the morning, and continued 
into the night with brief intervals. At 9 A. M. Sabbath-school 
was held under the auspices of the Christian Association. At 
TO A. M., 4 and 7 p. M., the congregation met for preaching and 
other exercises. It was a happy day — a season of refreshing 
from the presence of the Lord. Brother August is conducting 
an excellent meeting in his regiment. Already there have been 
forty-two professions of faith, and the work deepens and widens. 
I have enjoyed the privilege of being with him frequently, and 
have never seen a revival progress in a more satisfactory and 
promising manner. The Christian Associations which have re- 
cently been organized in the different brigades will, I doubt not, 
accomplish great good. They furnish an opportunity for the 
public confession of Christ and the enjoyment of the friendship 
of saints. They are a nucleus for lay co-operation with the 
chaplains, or lay labors in the absence of chaplains. In Kemper's 
Brigade the revival, which began last spring, still goes on, chiefly 
under the ministry of Rev. Dr. Pryor, of the Presbyterian Church. 
He is a most laborious and efficient workman." 

In a circular sent out to the Churches and people by the 
Chaplains' Association of the first and second corps of General 
Lee's army, urging hearty co-operation in the work of saving 
souls, most cheering accounts of the revival were given : 

" The Lord is doing wonderful things for Zion in the ranks of 
our army. Christians are daily growing in grace and fidelity. 
Sinners are turning by hundreds to the King of Righteousness 
and finding that peace which comes by faith; while many are yet 
seeking the Prince of Life. We believe that, under God's di- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 337 

rection, much of this work has been done by the fraternal inter- 
course secured by our organization. May the Lord bless you 
with His Spirit, and give His word prosperity through your in- 
strumentality." 

The religious, and even the secular papers, often filled columns 
with the news of God's work among the soldiers. The Ricli- 
mond Christian Advocate said : 

" Not for years has such a revival prevailed in the Confederate 
States. Its records gladden the columns of every religious 
journal. Its progress in the army is a spectacle of moral sub- 
limity over which men and angels can rejoice. Such camp- 
meetings were never seen before in America. The bivouac of 
the soldier never witnessed such nights of glory and days of 
splendor. The Pentecostal fire lights the camp, and the hosts of 
armed men sleep beneath the wings of angels rejoicing over 
many sinners that have repented. 

"The people at home are beginning to feel the kindling of the 
same grace in their hearts. It is inspiring to read the corres- 
pondence, now, between converts in camp and friends at home, 
and to hear parents praise God for tidings from their absent sons 
who have lately given their hearts to the Lord. 

'' ' Father is converted,' says a bright-faced child of twelve 
years ; * Mamma got a letter to-day, and father says that there is 
a great revival in his regiment.' The child is too happy to keep 
her joy to herself What glorious news from the army is this ! 
This is victory — triumph — peace ! This is the token of good 
which the great King gives to cheer His people. It is the best 
evidence that prayer is heard, and that the Lord is with us. Let 
us show ourselves grateful for such grace and ' walk worthy of 
God, who has called us to His kingdom and glory.' Let fervent 
prayer continue, and patient faith wait on God, * who is able to 
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.' " 

The letters from the converted soldiers were often the means, 
under God, of awakening an interest in the Churches at home. 
And back to the army went letters telling how hearts were 
touched and made truly penitent by reason of the tidings sent 
from the boys in the tents and trenches.'^ 

Soldiers were converted by thousands every week. From 
Virginia, Rev. G. R. Talley wrote : 



* Dr. Bennett's '« Great Revival.' 
22 



338 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

"God is wonderfully reviving his work here, and throughout 
the army. Congregations large — interest almost universal. In 
our chaplains' meeting it was thought, with imperfect statistics, 
that about five hundred were converted every week. We greatly 
need chaplains — men of experience and ministerial influence. 
Our Regimental Christian Association, as a kind of substitute for 
a Church, and our Bible-classes, are doing well." 

Under the powerful stimulus of such a revival, the Churches 
at home redoubled their efforts to supply preachers. 

In General G. T. Anderson's Georgia Brigade, composed of 
the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Eleventh, and Fifty-ninth Regi- 
ments, the influence of a Soldiers' Christian Association was 
most powerful for good. 

" It has drawn out and developed," says a soldier of the 
brigade, " all the religious element among us. It has created a 
very pleasant, social feeling among the regiments, and has blended 
them into one congregation. The three chaplains of the brigade 
work together, and thus lighten the burdens of each other, and 
also extend help to the two regiments that are without chaplains. 
The association now numbers over four hundred members. We 
recently broke up a camp where, for four weeks, we have enjoyed 
an unbroken rest ; and it has been one long * camp-meeting ' — a 
great revival season — during which we held divine services daily. 
It has been a time of great joy with us, reviving pure, evangelical 
religion, and converting many souls. Above eighty members 
have been added to the association as the fruit of our meeting. 
A great revolution has been wrought in the moral tone of the 
brigade. During a part of this time we were assisted by Rev. 
Mr. Gwin, of Rome, Georgia, of the Baptist Church, and by Rev. 
Dr. Baird, of Mississippi, of the Presbyterian Church. Their 
labors were highly appreciated, and were very valuable. The 
Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh Regiments each have Sabbath- 
schools, which are a new and interesting feature in the religious 
teachings of the army. Much interest is taken in it. Full one- 
third of my regiment are members of my school." 

In Law's Brigade the work was equally deep and powerful. 

** Last March," says a soldier, " I was quite sick, and was sent 
to the hospital in Richmond, Virginia. At that time my regi- 
ment (the gallant Fourth Alabama) was extremely wicked. You 
could scarcely meet with any one who did not use God's name in 
vain. You could see groups assembled almost in every direction 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 339 

gambling. I obtained a furlough and returned home to my dear 
wife and children, who live not far from your city. I returned to 
my command some two weeks since, and to my surprise and de- 
light I found at least three-fourths of my company not only 
members of the Church of the living God, but professors of 
religion. This state of affairs is not limited to my company, but 
it extends throughout the entire regiment; and I might say the 
whole brigade (Law's Brigade). God grant that this good work 
may continue to flourish throughout the entire army." 

Of the work which came under his eye in Ewell's Corps Rev. 
Dr. Rosser wrote : 

" My plan is, to visit and preach to this corps, division by divis- 
ion, and brigade by brigade — stopping longest where I can do 
most good, noticing vacancies in the chaplaincy, circulating 
religious reading as it reaches me, and sympathizing with the 
sick and wounded soldiers. A nobler work cannot engage the 
heart of the preacher, or the attention of the Church and nation. 
I can but glance at the work at this time. 

" The whole army is a vast field, ready and ripe t6 the harvest, 
and all the reapers have to do is to go in and reap from end to 
end. The susceptibility of the soldiery to the Gospel is wonder- 
ful, and, doubtful as the remark may appear, the military camp is 
most favorable to the work of revival. The soldiers, with the sim- 
plicity of little children, listen to and embrace the truth. Already 
over two thousand have professed conversion, and over two 
thousand more are penitent. The hope of the Church and the 
country is in our armies, and religion in the army should be a 
subject of the most serious concern to the Church. That Church 
that does most for religion during the war will do most for relig- 
ion when the war is over. Let our Church have an eye to this, 
and with a holy faith and zeal grasp both the present and the 
future. Oh, let the shepherds come and gather the lambs in the 
wilderness ! 

" We want our best men here — men of courage, faith, experi- 
ence — holy men — hard-working men — sympathizing men — self- 
denying men — men baptized afresh every day by the Holy 
Ghost for the work. No place here for slow men, mere rea- 
soners and expositors, however learned or eloquent; war has no 
time to wait for such men — the soldier has no time to wait for 
such men — he may die to-morrow. The few men now with us 
in this corps — and noble men they are — can do but a tithe of 



340 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

the work required — some of them have the work of a brigade. 
We want more and the best. Let our Churches be content to 
spare them. 

" We want vastly more rehgious reading. Oh, it is affecting 
to see the soldiers crowd and press about the preacher for what 
of tracts, etc., he has to distribute, and it is sad to see hundreds 
retiring without being supplied ! One wishes to give himself 
away to meet the want. While the country is expending hun- 
dreds of millions of dollars, and pouring out its blood like water 
on the altar of patriotism, let the Church be as prominent in devo- 
tion and zeal to religion in the army. Let religion rival patriotism 
in activity. Light up the great camp of war with celestial fire." 

Rev. J. M. Stokes, chaplain Third Georgia, reported to the 
SoiitJicrn Clu'istian Advocate : 

" Zion is flourishing again in this army. There are as many 
as twenty chapels. We have had a meeting in progress two 
weeks, and the interest is increasing daily. We have had sev- 
eral conversions, and there were, I reckon, fifty mourners at the 
altar for prayer last evening. Our chapel seats between 300 
and 400, and is full every night unless the weather is very 
inclement. 

" Rev. B. T. Lacy, chaplain in General EwelFs Corps, visited 
and preached for us about a week ago. He preached us a most 
excellent sermon, and gave us much advice and encouragement 
privately. His visits to the different brigades can but have the 
most gratifying effect both upon the chaplains and their con- 
gregations. I wish we had just such a man to every division to 
superintend its spiritual matters. 

" There is a great harvest here, which ought to be reaped at 
once, and if it should pass this season we fear that much of it 
will be gathered by the enemy of souls." 

Rev. J. O. A. Cook, chaplain Second Georgia Battalion, 
Wright's Brigade, wrote : 

" It would do your heart good to witness our camp-services, to 
see the immense throngs that crowd our rude chapels, to listen 
to the soul-stirring music, as with one voice and one heart they 
unite in singing the sweet songs of Zion, and to note the deep 
interest and solemn earnestness with which they listen to the 
preaching of the word. I have never seen anything like it. I 
can but believe that the blessing of God is upon us, and that He 
is preparing us for a speedy and glorious peace. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 341 

" Bible-classes and Sabbath-schools have been organized in 
many of the brigades. The soldiers are taking great interest in 
them. We organized our Sabbath-school a few evenings since, 
beginning with seventy members. There is, however, a want of 
Bibles. If every family would furnish one of the several Bibles 
lying about the house the army would be very well supplied." 

" Camp of Ninth Virginia Cavalry, near Raccoon Ford, 

" September 30. 

" There has been for several weeks past a most glorious revival 
going on in our regiment, conducted by our respected and 
highly esteemed chaplain. Rev. C. H. Boggs. By the blessing 
of God his efforts have been crowned with great success, and 
many souls have been brought to realize the inestimable value 
of a Saviour's love. We wish this good work to continue. It 
is still going on, but we wish to increase it — to extend its influence, 
if possible, until every man in the regiment is convinced of his 
lost and ruined condition, is brought to see his danger, and per- 
suaded to fly for safety to Him who alone can save. There is 
already a marked change in the moral deportment of the whole 
regiment. But, in order to carry on this work as it should be 
done, it was necessary that all the Christians in the regiment 
should be united, and contend side by side and shoulder to 
shoulder in the cause of Christ. Therefore we (all the professors 
of the religion of Christ, who are members of the Ninth, without 
regard to denomination or sect, and only aiming at one great 
end, viz., ' the immortal welfare of our fellow-men ') have united 
ourselves in an association known as the ' Soldiers' Christian 
Association of the Ninth Virginia Calvary.' We wish to take 
immediate steps to provide the regiment with religious reading 

matter of every kind, but particularly papers and tracts 

" H. B. Richards, Cor. Sec. S. C. A. 

" Ninth Va. Cav., W. H. F. Lee's Brigade." 

" Camp, Gordon's Brigade, September 28. 
" Brother Thos. H. Pritchard and myself commenced preach- 
ing about a week ago to the soldiers in General Wright's Brigade 
about a mile distant, and are now preaching to Gordon's Brigade. 
There is some interest in the former, and a great deal in the 
latter. Last night fifty or sixty came forward for prayer, many 
of them deeply affected. Yesterday evening Brother Pritchard 



342 

baptized seventeen in the Rapidan, in sight of the enemy's 
pickets, who looked on as though they took some interest in 
the proceeding. Brother Pritchard is enjoying his work very 
much. May his banishment from Baltimore contribute largely 
to the salvation of Confederate soldiers. 

"A. Broaddus, Sr." 

" Camp of Thirtieth Virginia Regiment, Corse's Brigade, 

NEAR Carter's Station, Tennessee, September 29. 
" In these times of sorrow and affliction how delightful it is to 
see the manifestation of the presence and power of God in the 
conviction and conversion of sinners ! Every day we are called 
upon to record the loving-kindness of God in the conversion of 
those who are dear to us. It has been my privilege recently to 
bear testimony to the work of grace which has been going on 
in this brigade. Many of the dear soldiers, who have enHsted 
in their country's cause, are now enlisted under the bright 
banner of the Cross. Upon my arrival here I was pleased to 
learn that a glorious revival of religion was going on; and 
although the meetings had not been held regularly, in conse- 
quence of the continued moving from one position to another, 
yet the interest is still on the increase. The meetings are con- 
ducted by the Rev. Mr. August, the faithful chaplain of the 
Fifteenth Virginia, assisted by Captain Willis of the same regi- 
ment. A large number have professed faith in Christ, while 
many others are deeply concerned on account of sin. To-day 
Brother Willis baptized fourteen, seven of whom are from his 
regiment. Although this regiment has been without a chaplain 
for some time, I am glad to inform you that there seems to be a 
feeling of awakening existing among them. On last evening I 
held a meeting, and gave an invitation for any one to come for- 
ward for prayer ; and while we were singing eight came forward, 
four of whom were converted. I only hold services as circum- 
stances will permit, and distribute such reading matter as I can 
procure, and look to God for His blessing on these feeble in- 
strumentalities. I have met with a cordial reception, both from 
the officers and men of this regiment, and am earnestly entreated 
to remain with this brigade. 

" M. D. Anderson, Army Evangelist." 

" Elder J. E. King, chaplain of the Fourteenth Tennessee Regi- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 343 

ment, within two and a half months, has baptized ninety persons 
in various divisions of the Army of Northern Virginia." 

At a meeting of the First Baptist Church, Richmond, the fol- 
lowing resolutions were unanimously adopted : 

*' I. Resolved, That this Church has received with great joy the 
tidings of God's merciful dealings with the armies of our coun- 
try, in bringing many of our soldiers to repentance and salvation ; 
and that we will earnestly pray for the continued success and 
enlargement of the good work amongst them. 

" 2. Resolved, That we regard this gracious dispensation as the 
voice of God to His slumbering Churches, calling them to re- 
newed zeal and consecration to His cause ; and that we will 
labor and pray that its influence may not be lost upon ourselves 
or upon those within our reach." 

A minister in the army writes : " Our meetings are assuming 
a new and interesting phase. All the recent converts meet twice 
a day by themselves, and pray and talk over their wants and 
necessities to each other, and every one who attends must lead 
in prayer. It is refreshing to see so many young converts, all 
in their freshness and vigor, serving the Lord and full of redeem- 
ing love." 

Rev. N. B. Cobb, in an account of his visit to the Army of 
Northern Virginia, gives the following description of a convert 
whom he met in camp : 

" One of the most wicked and desperate men in camp had 
been melted down into the gentleness of a little child. Before 
the Spirit of the Lord touched his heart, his name had been in- 
corporated into a proverb for wickedness. He seemed to be 
beyond human control. Whenever he got out of camp he would 
get drunk, and come back or be brought back perfectly furious. 
When the guard would arrest him he would draw out his bowie 
knife and endeavor to cut his way through them ; and even after 
he was overpowered and taken to the guard-house he had to be 
tied down, to keep him from rushing out over the sentinels. 
But the grace of God had taken hold of him, and entirely 
changed his nature. The roaring lion had been subdued into 
the gentle lamb ; and it was remarkable that every man in the 
regiment had perfect confidence in his conversion." 

Elder W. N. Chaudoin, m a letter to the Baptist Banner, from 
the Army of Northern Virginia, describing his first day in camp, 
says : " The quiet and order of the camp astonished me. I have 



344 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

seen and heard more confusion on Sabbath, at camp-meeting, 
than I heard and saw last Sunday in three .brigades of sol- 
diers." 

" Camp near Pisgah Church, Orange County, Va., 

" October 3, 1863. 

. . . . " But the chief design of this is to let our friends know, 
through your paper, of the contiiiuance of the glorious state of 
things in our regiment. Several more have professed an inter- 
est in the great salvation. On Saturday last five were ' buried 
with Christ in baptism ' by Brother J. W. Jones, of the Thir- 
teenth Virginia Infantry, and another on Tuesday — all of whom, 
we hope, arose to * walk in newness of life.' A number are still 
waiting to join other denominations 

" Oh, what a contrast is there in our regiment, when com- 
pared with last year this time. Now, instead of the songs of 
revelry and mirth to which we used to listen, at night the forest 
is made to resound with songs which arise like sweet incense 
from new-born souls, to the Captain of their salvation — the 
stately steppings of Jesus are heard in our camps — the Holy 
Spirit is wooing hearts in our army — soldiers are enlisting under 

the unfurled banner of King Immanuel 

" Yours truly, 

" Wallace." 

*' Richmond College, October 6. 
" I spent four days of last week with Kemper's Brigade, 
stationed at Taylorsville. Brother Jno. Wt Ward, chaplain of 
the Third Regiment, baptized eight persons the day before my 
arrival. Five had also been received by the Methodrst chaplain 
of the Eleventh Regiment, Rev. Thos. C. Jennings. Two others 
joined the Episcopal Church. Meetings are still in progress at 
night, conducted by the excellent brethren above-named. 
Christians in this brigade seem to be active and united, and I 
trust they will receive a great blessing. The previous week I 
spent at the same place, with Cook's Brigade, and had the 
pleasure of baptizing six soldiers. About the same number had 
solicited the ordinance at my hands, and would have been bap- 
tized on Saturday, but, on the previous night, the remainder of 
the brigade was removed to Gordonsville, whither a part of it had 
gone previously. Brother Howerton is a chaplain in this bri- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 345 

gade. I also spent a week with Wofford's Brigade early in 
September. Here I found only one chaplain, Rev. Mr. Flinn, 
of the Presbyterian Church. I was received cordially and 
treated affectionately, by both officers and men of all these bri- 
gades. During each visit I was impressed with the conviction, 
that the army is an inviting field of labor, and is always ready to 
welcome the evangelist. 

" R. Ryland." 

" Camp near Orange Court House, October 7. 
" The work of the Lord is still on the increase in this army. 
In every direction meetings are in progress, at which hundreds 
are anxiously inquiring after the Saviour of sinners. Even where 
it has been deemed best to suspend the regular series of services 
prayer-meetings are held several times a day, conducted for the 
most part by those who have themselves recently chosen the 
service of God. These young converts sing, pray and exhort, 
and their labors are made instrumental in the conversion of their 
comrades. A Baptist chaplain told me yesterday, that every day 
or two he was called on to baptize soldiers, brought to him by 
the young converts, the fruits of their prayer-meetings. To-day 
I rode twelve miles. All along the way, regiments, battalions 
and brigades were encamped, and here and there on the wayside 
I saw men sitting down reading their Testaments and tracts. 
Brother Renfroe expects, this week, to baptize thirty-five. 
Brother Cundy has baptized sixty. I suppose that fully 500 
have united with the Baptist Church since the army has been 
here. At Gordonsville I found a precious revival in progress. 
I preached twice to large congregations at that place, and in the 
afternoon witnessed the baptism of eleven, making thirty-seven 
baptized by Brother Howerton, of Cook's Brigade. Permit me 
to say, that I find our evangelists and colporters are greatly 
encouraged. Almost every sermon they preach is being blessed 
to the spiritual good of some soul, while the pages of truth they 
distribute are eagerly read. We need, however, funds to support 
those engaged in this good work. I beg that the pastors and 
Churches at home will keep us provided with the needed con- 
tributions, the * sinews of war.' 

"A. E. D." 

" Richmond, October 10. 
^^ Brother Dickinson : I herewith furnish you a short statement 



346 

of my labors for the four weeks ending to-day, that I have 
labored as the representative of your board. I have preached 
twenty-one sermons, distributed 7,000 pages of tracts, witnessed 
thirty-six immersions, and aided in the examination of twenty- 
nine candidates for admission into our Church; besides, quite a 
number gave their names, wishing to join other denominations. 
My labors were in Cobb's Legion of Cavalry, Colonel Cutt's 
Artillery Battalion, and the brigades of Daniel, Ramseur, Battle 
and Doles, but mostly in the last-named, which is composed of 
Georgia troops. I found a great work of grace in progress in 
General Doles' Brigade, which had been increasing in interest 
for several weeks, under the preaching and labors of Brother 
A. M. Marshall, of Georgia, aided by such help as he could get 
from other chaplains and visiting ministers. I remained with 
him as a recruit for two weeks, preaching once and sometimes 
twice a day in Doles' Brigade, and others in camps near by. I 
found in General Battle's Brigade, for which I preached twice, a 
precious revival spirit. Large and attentive crowds came to 
listen to preaching, and by fifties would flock around us for 
prayers. I can't forbear to mention, as one blessed feature of 
the work, the reclaiming of backsliders. Quite a number of cases 
came under my notice. Then again, many good, pious brethren, 
who had not fallen into gross sins, but had been backward in 
expressing themselves, feel as if a great pressure had been taken 
off them, and they not only breathe easier, but can now speak 
out for the Saviour. But I forbear making further comment 
now, as I have many I could make, and will perhaps offer them 
for the public eye, in some of our religious papers. . My excuse 
for not doing more this month is, that I was indisposed a few 
days the first week, so as not to be able to work. 

'' W. N. Chaudoin." , 

A lady from the vicinity of Gettysburg, whose letter, describ- 
ing the sufferings of the Confederate wounded left on that field 
of blood, appears in the Albion^ Liverpool, England, says: "There 
were two brothers, one a colonel, the other a captain, lying side 
by side, and both wounded. They had a Bible between them." 

Rev. J. J. D. Renfroe, in a private letter from the Army of 
Northern Virginia, to a member of his. Church, Talladega, Ala- 
bama, says : " Were it not for separation from my dear family, 
I never was so happily situated in my life. I would rather be 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 347 

in the army than anywhere else. O, it is transporting to see the 
earnestness with which men enter upon the cause of rehgion, 
and the primitive famiharity and simplicity with which they 
approach each other and the preachers on the subject. And 
then there is scarcely an hour, but some poor inquiring soul 
comes to my tent to get instruction. I never saw the like of it 
before ! " 

^' Messrs. Editoi's : Having spent several months in preaching 
to our soldiers, I have reluctantly yielded to the wish of the 
board, and resumed the work of collecting funds for army col-' 
portage. It is not because I love the work of an agency less, 
but because I love that of preaching more. Never have I real- 
ized so much pleasure in a summer's work before. Never have 
I seen any class of persons so appreciative of the Gospel as the 
Confederate soldiers generally. So far as my observation has 
extended, it is only necessary for a few sermons to be preached, 
in any regiment or brigade, to secure the conviction and con- 
version of sinners. A general predisposition to religion is 
everywhere apparent. Thousands, who, in the beginning of the 
war, were not only thoughtless, but profane and reckless, are 
now either happy Christians or trembling inquirers. It is im- 
possible for those who have not been in the army to form a cor- 
rect idea of the amount of interest manifested throughout the 
ranks. If many of the pastors of Churches would ' steal awhile 
away ' from their home labors, and go to the army, they would 
feel amply repaid for any little sacrifice of comfort incident to 
camp life, by seeing that their * work of faith was not in vain in 
the Lord.' Brethren and sisters of the Churches, send your 
pastors for a few weeks, at least, to publish salvation to perish- 
ing sinners in the army. They will return to you far better 
qualified to promote your spiritual interests, by reason of their 
sojourn among the soldiers. I have witnessed, during the sum- 
mer, the hopeful conversion of some hundreds of souls, although 
I have preached to comparatively few brigades of the army. It 
is estimated that more than 2,000 soldiers have professed religion 
in General Lee's army since their return from Maryland. The 
army is now moving, but will soon be at rest again. Immedi- 
ately after a battle, when men's minds are impressed with God's 
goodness in sparing their lives, is a most favorable time for pre- 
senting the claims of the Gospel. Our board still desires to 



348 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

employ missionaries. Who will go at once? Before I close, 
allow me to say, that officers generally, and General Gordon, of 
Early's Division, particularly, treated me kindly and respectfully. 
General Gordon is a man after my own heart. Should this 

* cruel war ' continue, and his life be spared, I predict for him a 
high place among the leaders of our hosts. May he receive 
from his country and his God, all that his true courage and rare 
Christian virtues so richly deserve ! 

"Affectionately, 

"A. Broaddus." 

** Recent movements have, of course, been (humanly speaking) 
rather unfavorable to the religious interests of the army. But 
up to the time of the move, the interest was unabated, and I 
doubt not is as great now really, though there, is not quite so 
good an opportunity for developing it, as the nights are almost 
too cool for lengthy outdoor exercises, and the men are gener- 
ally pretty busy in the day building huts, etc. Yet a good deal of 
preaching is being done, many prayer-meetings, Bible-classes, etc., 
are held, and the work of the Lord is prospering in our midst. 
I expect to baptize twenty-eight to-morrow in Hazel river. . . . 
I see every day increased evidences of the genuineness of this 
work in the army. I have been particularly struck with the fact, 
that out of scores I have called on to lead in prayer, not one has 
refused — and this is the testimony of chaplains generally. Many 
of them, too, lead the meetings, exhort, etc. And may we not 
hope that God in His providence designs in the army to answer 
the question that now wells up from many an anxious heart, 

* Where are the preachers of the next generation to come from ? ' 
that He designs that there shall go forth from the ranks of our 
noble army, many who shall be useful heralds of the Gospel of 
peace. Let this be the subject of special prayer throughout the 
land. It is rejoicing our hearts that the Lord is in some meas- 
ure visiting the Churches at home with outpourings of His 
Spirit. This will operate reciprocally upon the army. A chap- 
lain gave me a beautiful illustration of it this morning. On a 
list which he handed me of those who wished to join the Baptist 
Church, there were eight or ten who desired to connect them- 
selves with a single Church in North Carolina, and upon inquiry 
he found that that Church had recently enjoyed a precious season 
of revival. Thus it operates — the prayer of the soldier for his 



349 

loved ones at home is heard, and the prayer for the absent 
soldier boy is not unheeded. But I must close, as I fear I'll 
make your readers rejoice that my lengthy communications are 
only 

" Occasional." 

Rev. W. N. Chaudoin reports that during a recent visit to our 
forces at Franklin, Virginia, he baptized eight persons. Up to 
the time of his leaving there were nearly fifty professions of con- 
version. 

Rev. J. L. Truman says : " I spent the greater part of Sep- 
tember in protracted meetings, in concert with other ministers. 
These meetings were attended with great good. At one there 
were 140 converts, and seventy were baptized. There were con- 
verts in all of these meetings. A religious feeling of no ordinary 
character now prevails in the Army of Northern Virginia." 

" We have had some precious seasons with the soldiers, who 
have thronged the house of the Lord, that they might be taught 
the way of life. Take the following as a specimen of the cases 
of interest among this class of our hearers : At the prayer- 
meeting one afternoon, after the congregation was dismissed, a 
soldier came up and spoke to us, but believing him to be a 
member of the Church, we said nothing to him about his soul, 
until he remarked, * I came here this evening, hoping that you 
would speak to me about the Saviour, and though you have dis- 
missed the congregation, I must beg you to wait a few minutes 
and give me some instruction.' The next day he united with 
the Church, and whenever called upon he has led in prayer, 
besides speaking a word, now and then, of exhortation. 
Another soldier, concerned about his soul, cried aloud, * O that 
my mother were here ! ' * Why do you want her here ? ' * Because 
she has so long been praying for me, and^now I have found the 
Saviour.' The effect cannot be described. Every eye was filled 
with tears, for all knew something of a mother's love. The 
praying mother, away off in the far South, seemed to stand 
before us rejoicing over her penitent boy, now a fellow-pilgrim 
with her to the better land. On another occasion a trooper, who 
had that day reached the city with prisoners from the valley, was 
present. He was convicted of sin, found peace in believing, 
and was the most happy man that I have seen since the war has 



350 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

been in progress. His love for the people of God was such that 
he went around among them, giving to each the hand of fellow- 
ship and Christian affection : * I will go back to the valley a new 
man,' said he ; * the love of God burns in my heart, and I desire 
now to speak for JeSus among my comrades.' 

*'A. E. Dickinson." 

" There is a good degree of religious interest felt in Beckham's 
Battalion of Artillery, of which I am a member. We have no 
chaplain, but the brethren of the different denominations keep up 
a prayer-meeting and Sabbath-school. There have been some 
twenty-five who have professed conversion in the battalion this 
fall." 

The revival in Hays's Brigade was one of very great power and 
happiest results, and originated under circumstances of peculiar 
interest. 

A youth of the Ninth Louisiana Regiment named Bledsoe 
professed conversion in hospital at Charlottesville, under the in- 
structions of Post Chaplain J. C. Hiden, and returned to his 
brigade ; with the burning zeal of the young convert determined 
to do something for the spiritual good of his comrades. 

It is no harm to say that Hays' Brigade, though as gallant 
fellows as ever kept step to the music of " Dixie," were noted 
for their irreligion. They had had no chaplains except two 
Romish priests, who, no doubt, did their duty as they understood 
it, but were, of course, entirely out of sympathy with evangelical 
religion as we understand it, and up to this period there had 
been few, if any, efforts made for the conversion of these brave 
fellows to the simple faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Bledsoe hunted diligently through the camp for men who 
would unite with him m a prayer-meeting, and at last found five 
others who would agree to do so. 

These six young soldiers, afraid to begin their meeting in the 
camp lest they should be interrupted by the jibes and jeers of 
wicked comrades, went out into a clover field beyond the hearing 
of their comrades, and began to pray for God's blessing upon 
themselves and the brigade. The meeting grew nightly in num- 
bers and interest until in about a week Bledsoe came to tell me 
that a number of men had professed conversion, and they wanted 
me to go up and take charge of the meeting. I found some lOO 
in attendance, fifteen professing conversion, and a number of in- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 351 

quirers after the way of life. The meetings grew in interest, we 
moved them into the centre of the brigade, and the work went 
graciously and gloriously on until over 200 professed to find 
" peace in believing." 

Our Chaplains' Association at this period was a continued 
season of rejoicing, as nearly every chaplain and missionary re- 
ported that the Lord was with him in his work. 

I may not now recall even the names of all the brigades in 
which revivals were reported, and can enter into very few details 
in the space at my command. But in August, September, Octo- 
ber and November, 1863, revivals were reported in Smith's Vir- 
ginia, Gordon's Georgia, Mahone's Virginia, Hays's Louisiana, 
Wright's Georgia, Wilcox's Alabama, Posey's Mississippi, Ram- 
seur's North Carolina, Doles's Georgia, Scales's North Carolina, 
Thomas's Georgia, J. M. Jones's Virginia, Battle's Alabama, 
Kemper's Virginia, Armistead's Virginia, Corse's Virginia, Gar- 
nett's Virginia, Hoke's North Carolina, Benning's Georgia, 
Kershaw's South Carolina, Lane's North Carolina, Daniel's 
North Carolina, Davis's Mississippi, Kirkland's North Carolina, 
Semmes's Georgia, Barksdale's Mississippi, Jenkins's South 
Carolina, Law's Alabama, Anderson's Georgia, Steuart's Virginia, 
" Stonewall " (Virginia), Iverson's North Carolina, Cooke's North 
Carolina, H. H. Walker's Virginia and Tennessee, McGowan's 
South Carolina, and a number of the artillery battalions and 
cavalry regiments. 

This revival work went graciously on, and though the *' Bris- 
toe " campaign, Longstreet's move to the battle of Chickamauga 
and his East Tennessee campaign, the cold weather which pre- 
vented outdoor services, and the very active campaign of 1 864, 
all tended to interrupt the regular services, the interest by no 
means ceased, and there was no time at which there was not a 
precious revival in some of the commands. 

*' Charleston, December 28. 
" I am glad to inform you that the good work commenced in 
the Twenty-sixth Virginia Regiment at Burton's farm still con- 
tinues. Brother Wiatt (chaplain) has baptized fifteen since they 
reached Charleston, and others are waiting to be baptized, and 
still others are concerned about their souls. They have nightly 
prayer-meetings, and after the meeting is over singing and other 
devotional exercises are continued in the different messes until 



352 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

bedtime. One of the most interesting features in this revival is, 
that the young converts, almost without an exception, take hold 
of the work, and pray, and frequently exhort in public, and may 
often be seen co7iversing with the unconverted privately 2k^o\i\. the 
precious Saviour they have found. The troops around here 
(though much scattered), like those in Virginia, all seem anx- 
ious to hear the Gospel. I preached last night to one company, 
and I suppose there were from seventy-five to lOO present. 

'' G. F. Bagby." 

Even after the weather became cold enough to keep people 
from attending their comfortable Churches at home, and before 
we could have any chapels built, these soldiers would come in 
crowds, many of them barefooted, to our outdoor meetings, and 
we rarely gave an invitation that there were not some to publicly 
manifest their interest. 



CHAPTER XII. 

PROGRESS OF THE WORK IN 1 864-65. 

THERE were some peculiar difficulties in the way of our 
work during the period embraced in this chapter. The 
severe weather of the winter and early spring made outdoor ser- 
vices rarely possible, and the skies had scarcely begun to smile 
upon us when General Grant crossed the Rapidan. Lee at once 
advanced and attacked him, and there ensued the death-grapple 
from "the Wilderness" to Petersburg, when we marched or 
fought, or were busy entrenching nearly every day. And then 
followed the siege of Petersburg and defence of Richmond, when 
our little army (reduced at last to 33,000 men to guard forty 
miles of entrenchments) was on starvation rations, and was yet 
forced to do an amount of marching, fighting, digging and watch- 
ing that would have exhausted much sooner any other troops 
of which history gives any account, and all of which was very 
decidedly unfavorable to religious services, or any evangelical 
work among the soldiers. 

And yet the good work went graciously on, there were pre- 
cious seasons along the line of the Rapidan up to the very open- 
ing of the campaign. Many were converted on the march, in the 
trenches, on the battle-field, in the hospital— and the Richmond 
and Petersburg lines, despite their scenes of carnage and blood, 
were made glorious by the presence of Christ in the trenches. 

I remember that the very day on which our line was broken 
below Petersburg, necessitating the evacuation of Richmond 
and Petersburg, and that sad march which terminated at Appo- 
mattox Court House, I had an appointment to preach and to 
baptize at the very point at which the lines were broken, and 
had been laboring there for some days in one of the most inter- 
esting revivals which I witnessed. 

Indeed, the revivals along the forty miles of Confederate en- 
trenchments, where there were about sixty chapels, during the 
winter of 1864-65 were as general and as powerful as any we 
23 (353) 



354 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

had at all, and only ceased when the army was disbanded. 
Really they did not cease then, for in the great revivals with 
which our Churches in Virginia and the South were blessed dur- 
ing the summer and autumn of 1865 a very large proportion of 
the converts were from among our returned soldiers. I wit- 
nessed myself a large number of professions of conversion 
among them, and in the meetings in which I preached (acting as 
an independent evangelist from the mountains to the seaboard 
after I had " laid by " the corn and threshed the wheat, for I 
took off my coat and went into the field to work on my return 
from the army), I always found our returned soldiers the most 
tender and impressible part of the congregations. 

Not as claiming by any means any special activity or special 
success, but merely.as illustrating how God helped us in our 
labors, and blessed our poor efforts during this period, I give 
the following report of one of the missionaries for the year be- 
ginning October i, 1863, and ending September 30, 1864. It 
may be proper to say that on October i, 1864, I accepted an 
appointment from the Virginia Baptist Sunday-school and Pub- 
lication Board as missionarj^-chaplain to A. P. Hill's Corps, and 
that this report only embraces my labors for the year named : 

Head-quarters, Third Corps, A. N. Va., 

Near Petersburg, October i, 1864. 
Rev. a. E. Dickinson, General Superintendent : 

Dear Brotlier : I have given you from time to time informal 
reports of my work, but now that a year has elapsed since I 
entered the service of your board, it is perhaps expected that I 
should send you a more formal report of my labors. 

I have confined myself chiefly to those regiments and bri- 
gades most destitute of ministerial labor ; but would take occa- 
sion to say that I have be^n treated by the chaplains of all de- 
nominations with uniform courtesy and kindness, and have in- 
variably found both officers and men ready to afford me every 
assistance in the prosecution of my work. 

In the past year I have preached 161 sermons — generally to 
large and attentive congregations. I have baptized 222. I 
have no means of knowing the number of Bibles, Testaments, 
tracts, religious papers, etc., I have distributed, but I have given 
large attention to this most important work, have tried always 
to keep a supply on hand, and have seldom gone to the hos- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 355 

pitals or among the troops without scattering tracts or papers ; 
nor have I the means of knowing definitely the number of 
prayer-meetings I have conducted. An important part of my 
work has been to endeavor to secure chaplains for the vacant 
regiments. I have been instrumental in securing the appoint- 
ment of twelve chaplains. I could have secured the appoint- 
ment of a number of others could I have found suitable breth- 
ren to take the places. Several excellent men could be gotten 
from the ranks, but for the refusal of the present secretary of 
war to make such appointments. I trust that I have also been 
of some service in assisting ministers coming to labor for a 
short time in the army, with information as to the most suitable 
places for them to labor, etc. 

The past six months have been very unfavorable to preaching 
in the army, owing to the unceasing activity which has pre- 
vailed, but when denied an opportunity of preaching I have 
found an abundant work in the hospitals, in pointing the sick 
and wounded to the great Physician. I might relate many in- 
cidents illustrating the eagerness of the soldiers to hear the 
Gospel, and its abundant success amongst them, but many such 
statements have been made in the papers, and I deem it unneces- 
sary at present to do more than give this brief summary of my 
labors. 

In reviewing the past, I am constrained to *' thank God and 
take courage." 

Yours in the Gospel, 

J. Wm. Jones, Army Evangelist. 

But, having made this general statement of the work during 
this period, I must now give some of the details. 

The extracts which follow from army letters and newspaper 
reports will show at the same time the religious status of the 
army and the spirit of our workers and of the soldiers : 

" The religious condition of our army at present is both health- 
ful and hopeful. Now that the weather has become unfavorable 
for frequent outdoor services, many of the regiments have 
neatly constructed log chapels, and many other chaplains, in 
lieu of this convenience, substitute the social prayer-meeting 
from hut to hut, Bible-classes, tract distribution, private conver- 
sation, etc., for the- more public ministrations of the word. 



356 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

There is very great demand for good reading of all sorts, and 
the friends of the soldier can do nothing more acceptable to 
him than to send good books, papers, magazines, etc., to Brother 
Fry, at our depository, who will see them properly distributed. 
By the way, our depository, under Brother Fry's effective man- 
agement, is proving a complete success and a great blessing to 
the army. Not only are chaplains supplied, but pious men in 
many of the regiments without chaplains, get from it packages 
of tracts and papers, and go as colporters to their comrades. 

*' The work of supplying the vacant regiments with chaplains 
proceeds rather slowly, but something is being done. The offer 
of our board to assist brethren who cannot make a support 
from the governmental salary, has had already a happy effect. 
Brethren who may have any intention of entering the chap- 
laincy ought to make application at once, as there is a great 
work to be done this winter. By the way, I wonder if the re- 
ceipts of our board are commensurate with their increased ex- 
pense in aiding chaplains ? They certainly ought to be, for 
surely, if ever a board deserved to have a warm place in the 
hearts of the people, and be liberally sustained, the ' Virginia 
Baptist Sunday-School and Publication Board ' is that one. I 
mean no disparagement of others, when I say, that, in the wide 
circulation and excellency of its publications, the number and 
efficiency of its colporters and evangelists, and its success in 
the great work in which it stood alone the first year of the war, 
our board, under the energetic management of its superintend- 
ent, has had no equal. It needs funds for the prosecution of 
its great work, and has claims upon the brotherhood which will 
not be disregarded. Brother, whom the Lord has blessed with 
plenty in these troublesome times, send on at once to Brother 
Dickinson a liberal New Year's offering for your brave de- 
fenders. 

" Occasional. 

'' Camp near Orange Court House, January 4, 1864." 

" Camp Twenty-Sixth Virginia, General Wise's Brigade, 

" Near Charleston, S. C, January 6. 

" It gives me great pleasure to inform you and the friends of 

our regiment, through the Herald, that the Lord continues to 

pour out His Spirit upon us. During the three months and a 

half of our camping here, about twenty-five of our officers and 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 357 

men have professed Christ. I have already baptized fifteen, and 
several more will follow. Conversions are reported almost 
every week. Prayer-meetings are held in all of the companies 
nightly, except when some providential circumstance pre\^ents. 
A great deal of zeal and love for Christ are exhibited by both 
old and young professors. We have a flourishing Christian 
Association, composed of some two hundred or more members, 
whose stated meetings are once in two weeks. We have preach- 
ing every Sabbath. We get a goodly number of copies of sev- 
eral religious papers, which are very eagerly read by converted 
and unconverted. We receive thirty copies of the Herald^ 
which is far too small a number. Will not the liberality of our 
Virginia brethren increase it to fifty or seventy-five ? Our 
officers and men are nearly all supplied with Bibles and Testa- 
ments. We are enjoying excellent health, well fixed and in 
good spirits. We don't cease to remember our Churches in our 
prayers. Do they remember us ? 

"Wm. E. Wiatt, 
" Chaplain Twenty-Sixth Virginia Regiment" 

*' There is a company in one of our Virginia regiments w^hich 
numbers eighty men, all of whom, except ten, are now^ con- 
nected with some evangelical denomination. Bible-classes have 
been formed, embracing the entire company, and the little hand- 
ful who are yet ' out of Christ ' give manifest tokens of deep re- 
ligious impressions. 

" There is a Bible-class in every company of Doles's Brigade, 
Army of Northern Virginia." 

" Charleston, South Carolina. 
" It gives me great pleasure to report, that our meeting con- 
tinues with unabated interest. About seventy-five have been 
hopefully converted. Last night was truly a refreshing time 
with us. It was difficult to get away from Church. Many of 
the inquirers refused to leave after the benediction, and of 
course we stayed with them. We had three or four additional 
prayers, and before we left the house (which was about half-past 
nine), several others professed. I do not think I have ever seen 
such interest manifested on the part of the unconverted. Men 
may sometimes be seen an hour before services, running to the 
honse, in order that they may procure seats. They come from 



358 

regiments two miles off. I do not think I could consent to 
leave here now, but I leave those behind who have promised to 
carry on the meeting indefinitely. I have been engaged in this 
meeting for nearly four weeks. I do not believe such extensive 
revivals as we are now having through our beloved country 
have ever been heard of since the days of Pentecost. 

" G. F. Bagby." 
Camp Letter, No. 15. 

^^Deai' Brethren : At our chaplains' meeting, the other day, I 
was enabled very nearly to complete my list of chaplains in the 
Infantry and Artillery of the army. The statistics you publish 
from the Central Presbyterian, are incomplete, and I give you 
the following as about the correct statement : Total number of 
chaplains in Ewell's and Hill's Corps, Z6\ Methodists, 36; Bap- 
tists, 20 ; Presbyterians, 20 ; Episcopalians, 6 ; Roman Catholics, 3 ; 
Lutherans, i. There are still fifty regiments and battalions with- 
out chaplains, but it will be remembered that when our Chap- 
lains' Association sent out, just a year ago, an appeal to the 
Churches for more laborers in the army, over half th.Q regiments 
were without chaplains. The large increase will be gratifying 
not only to the Christian public, but to all who rightly estimate 
the military poiver of religion in the army. A year ago there 
were whole brigades without chaplains, and regiments which 
had had scarcely a sermon, but this has ceased to be. There is 
not a brigade which has not one or more chaplains, and the sup- 
ply of missionary labor has been far greater than during any 
previous year. Indeed, but for the fact that a large number of 
chaplains have resigned, the supply would nearly equal the 
demand. The labors of these messengers of salvation have been 
wonderfully blessed during the past year, and in contemplating 
what has been done, we may well * thank God and take courage.' 
But there is one thought which strikes me painfully in looking 
over these statistics — the proportion of Baptist chaplains to 
those of our Methodist and Presbyterian brethren is so small, 
when we consider the relative membership of each Church. I 
suppose that there are about as many Baptists as Methodists, and 
over twice as many as Presbyterians in the army — and yet our 
Presbyterian brethren have as many chaplains as we, and our 
Methodist brethren almost twice as many. I rejoice that the 
ministry of these denominations have awakened to some ap- 
preciation of what they owe to the army. I mourn that our 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 359 

Baptist ministry seem behind them in this respect. Brethren of 
the ministry, there is still an open door to this widespread field 
of usefulness ; and I call upon you to consider whether it is not 
your duty to enter it. And by the way, I would respectfully 
ask of our older brethren in the ministry, if it is necessary for 
Congress (according to the law passed by the Senate) to extend 
the conscript age to fifty-five, does not this call upon some of 
them to give themselves to the work of army evangelization ? 
If the age of those who are to do the figJiting is to be extended, 
ought not the age of those who are to do the preacJiing in the 
army be also extended ? Is it right that our chaplaincies should 
be filled almost entirely by young men — many of them with no 
experience as preachers ? True, most of our useful ministers 
have families whom they would have to leave, and separation 
from loved ones is a bitter trial, but then our soldiers have to 
endure this, besides risking their lives, and it would seem right 
that they should be willing to make a like sacrifice in preaching 
to them the glad tidings. . . . 'All quiet along the lines ' is the 
stereotyped phrase which will probably express our military 
status for weeks to come.- The Yankees made a cavalry raid 
to Madison Court House, the other day, in which they made a 
few captures and returned the same evening. The spirits of our 
army were never better. The men are re-enlisting for the war, 
wherever an effort is made to get them to do so, and there is 
withal a spirit of content and hopefulness which the people at 
home would do well to imitate. The rations now issued are 
better than they were some time ago, and are likely still to im- 
prove. General Lee has issued a beautiful address upon the 
temporary scarcity of rations, and giv^es example as well as 
precept. At a dinner to which he was invited the other day, he 
refused the rich viands with which the table was loaded, and 
made his dinner off of beef and bread — remarking that he could 
not consent to be feasting, zuhile there was a scarcity of rations 
among his men. If a similar spirit existed amongst the good 
people at home, the scarcity of provisions in the army would 
indeed be temporary. If, instead of constantly croaking about 
the dangers of starvation, the people would reduce their rations 
in order to feed the army, this goblin would soon disappear. 
The soldiers are grateful for the sympathies bestowed upon them 
so lavishly, but they say that they can't live on sympatliy — they 
must have meat and bread as well. Wright's Georgia Brigade is 



360 

now being blessed with a revival, and I trust that other brigades 
will soon experience like blessings. I have heard of upwards of 
thirty chapels in the different camps, and there are doubtless 
others. Brethren who can get off would find this a most favor- 
able time to visit and preach for the regiments and brigades 
which have chapels — especially those of them which are without 
chaplains. 

" Occasional. 
"Army Northern Virginia, February 3, 1864." 

It is due to the denomination which, as a member of it, I 
claimed the right to censure in the above letter for failure to 
send their proportion of chaplains to the army to say that they, in 
some measure at least, redeemed themselves by taking the lead 
in colportage work, and in employing a large number of army 
missionaries and evangelists. 

The Domestic Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Conven- 
tion had at work at this period seventy-eight missionaries to the 
soldiers, and supplemented the salaries of eleven chaplains, while 
the Virginia Baptist Publication Board had in its employ over 
ICO colporters and army evangelists, and other State boards of 
the denomination were doing similar work. 

We have seen that the Presbyterian Board appointed eighty 
missionaries, including some of their ablest men. 

Rev. Dr. Bennett in his " Great Revival " gives the following 
as to the appointments of the great denomination with which he 
is connected, and which fully redeemed its well-known reputa- 
tion for missionary zeal by its *' abundant labors " in this great 
harvest-field : 

" The earnest purpose of the home Churches to promote the 
army revival was manifested by the number of ministers sent 
among the soldiers. We give a list of those who are sent by the 
Mission Board of the Methodist Episcopal Church South : 

" Revs. Leo. Rosserand J. C. Cranberry in the Army of 
Northern Virginia; J. B. McFerrin, C. W. Miller, W. Mooney, 
B. P. Ransom, and W. Burr in the Army of Tennessee; J. S. 
Lane and E. B. Duncan in the Department of Florida ; J. J. 
Wheat and H. J. Harris in Mississippi ; W. C. Johnson to Gen- 
eral S. D. Lee's Corps, North Mississippi ; J. J. Hutchinson to 
army about Mobile ; and beyond the Mississippi river, J. C. 
Keener to Louisiana troops, and B. T. Kavanaugh and E. M. 
Marvin to Missouri and Arkansas troops. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 361 

" Besides these, and others probably whose names have escaped 
us, the Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church South 
emulated other Churches in sending forth laborers into the great 
harvest. 

" Rev. Dr. Myers, of the Southern Christian Advocate, in 
noticing these facts, says: 

" ' The Mississippi Conference appointed one missionary and 
two chaplains to the army ; Memphis, one missionary and six 
chaplains ; Alabama, four missionaries and twelve chaplains ; 
Florida, one missionary and two chaplains ; Georgia, eight mis- 
sionaries and eight chaplains ; South Carolina, thirteen chaplains ; 
North Carolina, two missionaries and eight chaplains ; Virginia, 
two missionaries and twenty chaplains. Here are nineteen mis- 
sionaries and seventy-one chaplains from these eight Conferences. 
Of course, the Conferences beyond our lines furnish a number 
also; but except in the case of the general missionaries, sent out 
by the parent board, we can give no guess even as to their numbers.' 

" The Georgia Conference determined, if possible, to furnish 
one missionary to each Georgia Brigade, and at the session of 
1863 the work was begun by sending seven ministers : '* R. 

B. Lester to Jackson's Brigade, Army of Tennessee ; A. M. 
Thigpen to Colquitt's Brigade, near Charleston ; J. W. Turner 
to the troops in and around Savannah, and on the coast below 
there ; G. W. Yarbrough to Wofford's Brigade, General Long- 
street's army ; T. H. Stewart to Thomas's Brigade, and P. O. 
Harper to Gordon's Brigade, Army of Virginia ; and L. B. Payne 
temporarily to visit the hospitals between Atlanta and Guyton 

C. Railroad, until a brigade is selected for him. Another, T. 
F. Pierce, is now in the State military service, and will receive 
his appointment to a brigade when his term expires." 

But, to return from this digression, I give the following extracts 
from letters which I wrote to the Christian Index, Macon, Georgia : 

Camp, Near Orange Court House, Virginia, 

February 10, 1864. 
We held, on yesterday, a very pleasant meeting of our Chap^ 
lains' Association. A large number of chaplains were present, 
and the reports elicited showed a very healthful religious feeling 
throughout the army. A revival was reported as in progress in 
Davis's Mississippi Brigade, in which nine had professed conver- 
sion, and seventy were inquiring the way to life. There is also 



362 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

an interesting state of things in Kirkland's North CaroHna Bri- 
gade, and in the First North Carolina Regiment. The good 
work commenced in Wilcox's (old) Brigade last summer seems 
to be reviving. In one of the regiments there I have heard of 
men going out in the snow barefooted to attend the nightly 
prayer-meeting, which was held out of doors for want of a chapel. 
We had no report from Wright's Georgia Brigade, but I trust 
that the revival reported there is still in progress. In a number 
of other regiments and brigades increased interest in the prayer- 
meetings, Bible-classes, etc., was reported. A committee ap- 
pointed at the last meeting to visit General Lee with a view to 
see if something could not be done for the better observance of 
the Sabbath, reported that they were received with the utmost 
cordiality, and presented an order on the subject just issued from 
head-quarters. General Lee was present at this meeting and 
seemed deeply interested in the proceedings. He is a fast friend 
of the chaplains, and manifests a lively interest in their work. 

There was an interesting statement made of the increase of 
laborers in the army since February, 1863. Then, over half of 
the regiments were unsupplied with chaplains, and there were 
whole brigades without a single chaplain ; now, over two-thirds 
of the regiments have chaplains, and the number of missionaries 
is much larger than ever before. Still, there is need of more 
chaplains — and especially of more Baptist chaplains, as we have 
nothing like our proportion. The only thing that would palliate 
the conscription of ministers would be that it would fill up all 
the vacant chaplaincies. 

I learn, from a private source, that Rev. L. W. Allen, of Vir- 
ginia (widely known and loved), who was captured while serving 
as captain of a cavalry company, is engaged at Fort Johnson in 
carrying on a very interesting revival, in which a number of our 
officers have professed conversion and been baptized in the lake. 
How wonderful are the ways of Providence ! 

Army Northern Virginia, March i, 1864. 
Perhaps I can give a better idea of our work in the army by a 
few quotations from my diary. Saturday, February 20. Preached 
to a large and very attentive congregation in Davis's Mississippi 
Brigade, and after preaching received five for baptism. They are 
having a most precious revival in this brigade, and Rev. Mn 
Witherspoon, the efficient chaplain of the Forty-second Missis- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 363 

sippi, is alone, very much broken down, and calling loudly for 
help. Already they have had a large number to profess conver- 
sion, and the number of inquirers is daily increasing. 

Sunday, February 21. Preached this morning at Mahone's 
Virginia Brigade. Their large chapel was densely crowded, and 
I have rarely preached to a more attentive congregation. There 
are only two chaplains in this brigade of five regiments, but they 
are working men and the lay brethren are earnestly aiding them 
in their good work. Besides their chapel services, they have 
regular Bible-classes and prayer-meetings in nearly every com- 
pany in the brigade, and classes in spelling, reading, writing, 
English grammar, geography, astronomy, mathematics, Latin, 
Greek, etc. There are a number of men who did not know their 
alphabet, but who are now reading very well. There are men 
coming forward every week to make a public profession of re- 
ligion, and the genuineness of the glorious revival they had last 
fall is attested by the almost uniform consistency and activity of 
the young converts. After a substantial camp dinner, I rode 
over to Wright's Georgia Brigade and got there just as their 
Sunday-school was being opened. They had a large attendance 
of deeply interested young men, and I felt that it was good to 
be there. I taught a class of some twenty, and have rarely spent 
a more pleasant, or (to me, at least) profitable hour ; there was 
a sharpened attention to the lesson, an eager inquiry after the 
meaning of particular passages, and an intelligent expression of 
opinion which is rarely found in the best regulated Sabbath- 
schools in the Churches at home. I turned away feeling that if I 
had been unable to interest or profit the class, they had certainly 
done both for me. At night the chapel was filled with eager 
listeners, as I tried to point them to the " friend that sticketh 
closer than a brother." After preaching, I received five for baptism, 
and went to my quarters (four miles off), enjoying the moonlight 
ride and meditating on the great' work to be done in our army, 

[I may add here, as likely to interest your Georgia readers 
especially, that there have been recently some twenty professions 
of religion in Wright's Brigade, and there are still a number of 
inquirers. They have only two chaplains. Rev. Messrs. Cook 
and Stokes (Methodist), and while they are zealous and efficient 
they cannot do all the work to be done. They say that they 
would like to have a Baptist chaplain in the brigade, as a large 
proportion of the men are Baptists. Cannot the Baptists of 



364 

Georgia send on some earnest, working man of God to labor as 
chaplain or missionary among these noble men ?] 

Monday, February 22. I went to Davis's Brigade this morning 
to hear a lecture from the Rev. B. T. Lacy on " The Life and 
Christian Character of General T. J. Jackson." The lecturer was 
well prepared for his task by his intimate association with the 
lamented hero, and for two hours he enchained the. audience 
which, far too large for the chapel, assembled out in the open air. 
It was a fit and eloquent tribute to a great and good man. After 
the lecture I received three others from Davis's Brigade and one 
from Wright's, and we repaired to a mill-pond near by, where 
some of the brethren had cut off the ice from a space sufficient 
for our purpose. We sang an appropriate hymn, earnest prayer 
was offered, and appropriate passages of Scripture read, and, in 
the presence of a large and solemn congregation, I " went down 
into the water " and " buried with Christ in baptism " the four- 
teen young brethren whom I had received. 

Tuesday, February 23. We had to-day a very interesting 
meeting of our Chaplains' Association. After an earnest and 
practical sermon from Rev. D. B. Ewing, we had a very interesting 
report on the religious condition of the army, showing revivals 
in several of the brigades, and a hopeful state of religion in all. 
Nearly every regiment has its Bible-classes and prayer-meetings, 
thousands of pages of religious reading, and all the copies of the 
word of God that can be obtained, are regularly distributed, and 
great attention is being given to the primary schools, in which 
many poor fellows are being taught to read and write, These 
reports clearly indicate that noiv is the time for preachers to come 
to the army either as temporary missionaries or permanent chap- 
lains. A committee was appointed to prepare an address setting 
forth the religious condition and wants of the army, and one to 
devise (if possible) some plans to increase the number of Bibles 
and Testaments for circulation among the soldiers. Various 
other matters of interest claimed the attention of the meeting, 
and we adjourned feeling that our meeting had been profitable 
as well as pleasant. 

Wednesday, February 24. Preached this morning to Kirk- 
land's North Carolina Brigade, which is on picket near " Rapi- 
dan Station." As they had lost the use of their chapel by 
coming on picket, the services had to be held out of doors, but 
there was a large and attentive congregation present, despite the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 365 

blustering day. After preaching, I received and baptized in the 
Rapidan nine hopeful converts. At night I preached in Scales's 
North Carohna Brigade to a very large congregation, and when 
at the close of the service an invitation was given for all Chris- 
tians and all who desired the special prayers of God's people to 
kneel, the entire congregation promptly knelt. 

And thus I might go on, but these quotations must suffice for 
my purpose, which is to show our brethren at home the great 
work daily claiming our attention in the army, and to earnestly 
send them the Macedoiiian cry, *' Come over and help us." For 
several days past I have been laboring with the artillery of 
Ewell's Corps, amongst whom there is a good deal of religious 
interest. Rev. Dr. Burrows, of Richmond, has been laboring 
with them for a week, with his usual success. He has also de- 
livered his admirable lecture (which I am glad to say will soon 
be published) on " Colonel Lewis Minor Coleman, the Christian 
Scholar and Soldier," and as Colonel Coleman was attached to 
this command at the time of his death, there was the deepest 
interest in the lecture, and great good must have been accom- 
plished by its delivery. 

I have been on the " sick list " for the past week and have not, 
therefore, been able to visit the camps to much extent, but learn 
that there is a great deal of religious interest in many of the 
brigades, and deeply interesting revivals in several of them. I 
have engagements to baptize in several of the regiments as soon 
as I am well enough to do so. These candidates professed con- 
version under the labors of a Methodist and two Presbyterian 
chaplains, and desiring to join Baptist Churches these brethren 
promptly requested me to baptize them. I have had since I 
have been in the army a large number of requests of this sort. 
And it gives me pleasure to testify to the courtesy and kindness 
with which I have been treated by the chaplains of the different 
denominations, all of whom know that I am a decided Baptist. 
Indeed, there seems to be in the army a truce to denominational 
bickerings — there are no sectarian sermons preached and no sec- 
tarian tracts circulated, but all seem to work together to make 
men Christians, and then leave it to their consciences and 
their Bible with what denomination they will connect them- 
selves. 

J. W. J. 



366 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

" I have spent a few days of late with the artillery of Hill's 
Corps, only one battalion of which, I believe, has a chaplain. 
Brother M. D. Anderson, our colporter, is laboring very faith- 
fully in this field. A few days since one of the battalions, in 
which his efforts have been blessed to the good of many souls, 
sent him ^lOO, and a letter expressive of their high appreciation 
of his work. Brother J. M. Hart, of the Crenshaw Battery, gave 
me the following account of a work of grace with which his 
battalion had been blessed : ' Last summer, while we were in 
Orange, one of your colporters (Brother Clopton) visited us. 
He conversed with the men, supplied them with reading matter, 
and from day to day held prayer-meetings with us. The Divine 
Spirit was bestowed upon the effort and almost every man was 
more or less concerned about his soul. Many professed con- 
version and united with God's people.' .... 

"A. E. D." 

Brother Geo. F. Bagby, South Carolina, writes : 
" Since I last wrote you I have visited portions of Wise's 
Brigade, preached several times on James' Island (the number of 
hopeful conversions during our meeting there reached one hun- 
dred), and have also visited several points for collecting pur- 
poses." 

" Quite a revival is in progress in Colonel Carter's command. 
Night before last six came forward to ask for the prayers of 
God's people, while last night four made a public profession of 
faith in Christ, and seven presented themselves as inquirers. 
Rev. A. B. Brown is greatly encouraged and delighted that he 
has found such an inviting field. The Secretary of War has 
promised to assign him to Carter's and Braxton's Battalions. 
Major Braxton's command is erecting a chapel, and as soon as 
it is completed a protracted meeting will be commenced there. 
Major Braxton, whose gallantry has been conspicuous on many 
memorable battle-fields, is a Baptist, and is deeply interested in 
all that pertains to the spiritual good of his men. He gives a 
cordial welcome to missionaries and colporters, and greatly aids 
them in gaining access to those under his command. Colonel 
Carter, too, is a Christian gentleman who has done great good 
by the efforts he has made in this direction, as well as by his 
own consistent example. I expect to spend several days with 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 367 

Brother Brown and then visit other portions of the army, where 
I have promised to aid in protracted meetings. Beyond all 
doubt this is the best season for such meetings. 

"A. E. D." 

March 3, 1864. 
Now is the time to preach in the army. There is a half 
formed intention on the part of many of our brethren that they 
will come to the army zvlien the zveather opens, and spend a while 
in preaching to the soldiers. Let me urge that they couie at 
once. There are comfortable houses of worship (thirty-seven in 
all) scattered throughout our camps ; there is a good prospect 
of weeks of uninterrupted labor, and there is an eagerness to 
hear the Gospel seldom witnessed in camp. Many of our chap- 
lains are now absent, taking a needed respite from their labors, 
and there are now comparatively few missionaries in the camps ; 
so that, at a time when there is special demand for ministerial 
labors, the supply is unusually limited. I appeal, then, to our 
brethren in the ministry [especially to our most tisefid pastors^ to 
come at once, if only for a short time, and give us a helping 
hand in reaping the precious sheaves now " white unto the 
harvest." It will cost some trouble and sacrifice — but ought we 
not to be willing to endure these for the good of the noble 
fellows who risk their all for tisf And do not delay your com- 
ing, brethren, for there is many a poor fellow whom you might 
reach 7tow, who will fill a soldier's grave in the early spring 
campaign. Take your roll of blankets and a box of provisions 
(if convenient) to help the '* mess " with which you may stay, 
and come right along. 

J. Wm. Jones, Army Evangelist. 

I give other extracts from my letters to the Christian Index : 
The weather has interfered very. much with religious services 
of late, but when denied the more public ministrations of the 
word the men have often met in their company and held mess 
prayer-meetings, and thus the good work has gone on. If we 
shall have a week or two of pleasant weather before the campaign 
opens, there will be a glorious harvest to be reaped by the faith- 
ful laborer. I received on yesterday a note from a Baptist cap- 
tain in a brigade which has been on picket and deprived of the 
services of a minister for two weeks or more, telling me that the 



368 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

revival which they enjoyed before leaving their camp is still in 
progress, and that there are a number of candidates awaiting 
baptism. I expect to go down in a day or two and baptize them 
in sight of the Yankee pickets. I preached on yesterday to one 
of the largest congregations I ever addressed, and received _;?t/^ 
for baptism. The good work goes on, and I feel like calling, in 
every letter I write, for Diore men. 

Harris's Mississippi Brigade has recently given an evidence of 
self-sacrifice, which deserves to be written in letters of gold on 
one of the brightest pages of the history of this war. They have 
resolved to deny themselves one day's rations every ten days 
and give it to the poor of the city of Richmond. There is noth- 
ing in the history of the war more sublime than to see these 
noble men, cut off from supplies from home, thus offering a por- 
tion of their scant allowance to the poor of the. city they have so 
long defended. If the people at home would " go and do like- 
wise " the much agitated question, " How are the army and the 
poor to be fed ? " would be speedily solved. Well may our 
people " sit at the feet of the camp " to learn lessons of self- 
denial. Our noble boys have not only given up the comforts of 
home, and borne cheerfully the privations and hardships of sol- 
dier-life, but they are willing to make still further sacrifices to aid 
the needy. Reader, think of these noble men as you gather 
around your wellspread board, imitate their example towards 
the needy in your midst and reduce your rations that you may 
help to increase their scant fare. 

Happening in Lynchburg the other day I visited the " Sol- 
diers' Library," established by the efficient post chaplain (Brother 
J. L. Johnson), and was very much pleased with its arrangement 
and management. It is supplied with about eight hundred 
volumes of religious and miscellaneous books, a large number 
of pamphlets, weekly issues of all the religious papers published 
in the South, a number of secular papers, etc. It has a claim 
for contributions of money and books upon the friends of the 
soldier in every State since State lines are not thought of in dis- 
tributing its benefits. 

I met also Brother A. Broadus, who is widely known in 
Georgia as one of the most efficient agents to be found. He 
was busily and successfully prosecuting his work — going from 
house to house to plead the claims of the soldier. I met him 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 369 

when our army was drawn up in line of battle at " Mine Run," 
just in rear of our lines, and in reply to our exclamation of sur- 
prise at seeing him there, he said that he was ** collecting money 
for army colportage." A bad " time and place," most persons 
would have thought, but he was succeeding very well. 

Our Virginia board has recently appointed Rev. E. J. Willis 
"General Evangelist in Ewell's Corps." It would have been 
hard to find a better man for the place. Brother Willis's life has 
been a checkered but useful one. Graduating in his literary 
course at a Northern college, and in law at the University of 
Virginia, he practised his profession for awhile in his native 
State, and then emigrated to California about the beginning of 
the " gold fever." He was successful in his profession, and soon 
elevated to the position of judge, with a prospect of still higher 
honors ; but seeing the great need of preachers in that rising 
State he left the bench for the pulpit, and was widely useful in 
proclaiming the glad tidings. Returning to Virginia he was 
pastor of ** Leigh Street Baptist Church," Richmond, and at the 
beginning of the war was building up a new interest at " Clay 
Street Chapel." He raised a company " for the war " and has 
distinguished himself on many a bloody field, especially at 
Sharpsburg, where in command of his regiment (Forty-fifth Vir- 
ginia Infantr>") he bore its colors in the front, and when the flag- 
staff was shot away, wrapped them around his sword and still 
led the charge. I predict for him equal success in the new field 
upon which he is just entering. 

"All quiet along the lines." There is an increase of religious 
interest, but I defer particulars until after our chaplains meeting 
to-morrow. 

J. W. J. 

Camp near Orange Court House, Va., March 20, 1864. 

March 24, 1864. 
Rev. J. D. Chambers, missionary of the Virginia Baptist 
Sunday-School and Publication Board, reports a very extensive 
and powerful revival in progress in Bryant's Georgia Brigade, 
under the labors of Chaplains C. H. Toy, W. L. Curry and J. C. 
Camp (all three Baptists), and the brigade missionary. Rev. Mr. 
Haygood (a Methodist minister). There is a fine state of relig- 
ious feeling throughout that army, but a great lack of chaplains ; 
and both officers and men are very anxious to fill the vacancies. 
24 



370 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

The supply of religious literature — books, tracts and papers — hy 
no means equals the demand. 

Rev. Andrew B. Cross, in an account of a visit to Fort Dela- 
ware, states that, while our prisoners were eating dinner, he pro- 
posed to preach for them. " They readily assented, and circulated 
the notice among their companions. I went out and selected a 
spot in the barrack yard, which was protected from the wind and 
where the sun shone very warm. Here were gathered in a few 
minutes almost one thousand men, who stood listening attentively 
for over half an hour that I talked to them, and then seemed 
unwilling to depart, begging me to come and preach to them again, 
or send some one else." 

"Messrs. Editors : You reminded me when I saw you of * an 
old and unfulfilled promise.' I will now pay you one instalment. 
Shortly before we started on the Peninsular campaign, a soldier 

of my regiment called on me, telling me that J wanted to 

see me. J , a youth of perhaps seventeen years, was one of 

the most profane persons I ever heard speak. I walked with the 
messenger a few hundred yards from camp, where we found 

J sitting alone. * Oh, sir,' said he, * I am a lost sinner ! ' I 

told him yes, but the Son of man came to seek and to save that 
which was lost. After some conversation, in which he expressed 
a very deep sense of his sinfulness, I asked him : * Did you ex- 
pect me to come when you sent for me?' * Yes.' 'And why? 
I had never promised to do anything for you.' * Because you 
always do anything for us you can.' * If, then, you could trust 
me to come to you without any promise, can you not trust Christ 
with a promise ? Kneel right here, and right now accept the 
invitation to come, and humbly, yet confidently, ask — nay, claim — 
the fulfilment of his promise, " I will give you rest." ' We knelt 
together, and he prayed aloud one of the most earnest, childlike 
prayers I ever heard. When we rose, I saw by the clear light 
of the moon a most remarkable change in the expression of his 
face. The anxious sadness had given way to the most joyful 
expression. * Well, sir,' said I, ' how now ? Has Jesus repudi- 
ated His promise or kept it ? ' * He has kept it ; He has given 
me rest,' was the reply. Further conversation thoroughly sat- 
isfied me that Jesus had indeed fulfilled His promise. I more 
than once called on him to lead in prayer. His prayers were 
characterized by a childlike simplicity and confidence rarely to 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 371 

be found. On the march he told some of his friends that he was 
certain to be killed in the first battle. He was killed dead on 
the field on the first of July at Gettysburg. Thus fell as brave a 
soldier as has been sacrificed in his country's cause, and ' a babe 
in Christ ' was taken away from evil to come. 

" W. B. Carson." 

The Southern Christian Advocate judges, from intelligence 
from the Southern armies,«that ** the great revival," commenced 
last year, still continues. 

Revivals are reported in General B. R. Johnson's Brigade (a 
part of Longstreet's army), near Dandridge, Tennessee, in the 
camp church at Galveston, Texas, and in the Twenty-third 
Georgia Regiment, Colquitt's Brigade, near Charleston, South 
Carolina. 

" Of the 1 1 1 professors of religion in the Fifty-fifth North 
Carolina Regiment, Davis's Brigade, 3 are Lutherans, 4 Presby- 
terians, 8 unconnected with any Church, 32 Methodists, 64 
Baptists." 

" Camp of Gordon's Georgia Brigade, March 21. 

" The Lord is with us. For about two weeks past we have 
been rejoicing in His presence and His blessing. There is a 
deep religious interest pervading this whole brigade. Scores are 
nightly inquiring the way~of life, and a goodly number profess to 
have found it. It was my happy privilege on yesterday, in the 
presence of a large congregation, *to bury' sixteen 'by baptism.' 
Oh, may this interest not subside while the war lasts — nay, may 
it continue even when it shall have closed ; and may these Christ- 
loving soldiers go home to be as holy firebrands in our Churches! 

"A. B. WOODFIN, 

" Chaplain Sixty- first Georgia." 

"An entire congregation in Scales's (North Carolina) Brigade 
promptly knelt, a short while since, on an invitation for all 
Christians, and all who desired the special prayers of God's peo- 
ple to kneel." 

" Bath Court House, Virginia, March 10. 

" The chaplains of this (Colonel Jackson's) brigade have re- 
cently closed a very interesting meeting of nineteen days. There 
were twenty-five or thirty conversions. I baptized nine, and five 
others are received for baptism. Seven united with the Southern 



372 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

Methodists. Many penitents are inquiring the way of salvation. 
We hope the good work thus commenced will continue. We 
had the assistance of several ministers at different times during 
the meeting. 

"J. D. Leachman, 
** Chaplain Twentieth Virginia Regiment Cavaliy." 

^^ Captain A. W. Poindexter, Tzventy-sixtJi Virginia Regiment, 
Wise's Brigade : Enclosed you will please find ;^ioi contributed 
by my company (K, Twenty-sixth Virginia Infantry) for army 
colportage. May God bless it to the good of our soldiers ! The 
religious feeling in our regiment is very deep. Prayer-meetings 
are held in every company every night, and we have reason to 
believe that they have done much good, and to hope that they 
will continue to do much. Many who, a year ago, were groping 
their way in darkness, are now the humble followers of the 
' Lamb of God.' The change in the morals of the men has been 
frequently remarked upon by some of the officers to me. Our 
chaplain, Rev. William E. Wiatt, is untiring in his efforts among 
us, and is constantly working for the spiritual welfare of the men. 
He is greatly beloved by all, and may his labors among us be 
blessed more abundantly, and all of us be made to rejoice by 
seeing all of our regiment converted to God ! Pray for us, my 
dear brother." 

** Petersburg, Virginia, April 17. 

" There is quite an interesting meeting in progress in the South 
Carolina hospital. It commenced some five weeks since. The 
chaplain is assisted by Rev. Dr. Pryor, who was providentially 
detained here from his field of labor in the army. His services 
were very acceptable, and I trust greatly blessed." 

" Taylorsville, Virginia, April 3. 
" I trust the Lord has commenced a gracious revival in John- 
son's Brigade, now stationed at this place. Notwithstanding the 
weather has been very unfavorable, the work still progresses. I 
preached to large and attentive congregations during the past 
week. As many as twenty-five at one time came forward for 
prayer. Some have professed faith in Christ. We worship in 
the Baptist meeting-house. 

" George W. Griffin." 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 373 

" Chaplains' Association, A. N. Va., Orange Court House, 

" March 23. 

. . . " In Davis's Brigade, of Heth's Division, seventy-one have 
professed conversion in the past six weeks. Although the bri- 
gade is now on picket, where, owing to scarcity of timber, there 
is no chapel, yet seats for outdoor preaching are arranged, and 
the religious interest is unabated. During the week are held 
many prayer-meetings, brigade, regimental, company and pri- 
vate ; and prayer-meetings to prepare for prayer-meetings. Jesus 
is walking in His garden, and the myrrh, and aloes, and sweet 
spices breathe forth their richest fragrance. In Mahone's Bri- 
gade, of Anderson's Division, since our last meeting twenty have 
united with various Churches, and a number have professed sat- 
isfaction as to the pardon of their sins. Out of 428 professors in 
three regiments in this brigade, 140 professed conversion since 
the war begun. During a series of meetings for several weeks 
in Scales's Brigade, eighteen have been received into the Church ; 
thirty had entrusted their souls to Jesus for salvation. The 
work of grace was still going on. There were 600 professors 
out of 2,400 men in four regiments. Alas ! 800 men were desti- 
tute of the Scriptures. Many Bible-classes are held, and personal 
instruction given by the chaplain to the teachers. In the 
Twenty-second North Carolina Infantry, in this brigade, there is 
an alarming deficiency of God's word. But here God is work- 
ing, and blessing means used to win souls to Christ. Kirkland's, 
McGowan's and Stonewall Brigades all report an encouraging 
state of religion in their midst. In all, some are joining the 
army of the living God, and some are fleeing from the wrath to 
come towards the shelter of the Cross. This is also true of por- 
tions of the artillery of both corps. A protracted meeting of 
unabated interest was reported from Gordon's Brigade, in Early's 
Division. Thirty were praising God's free grace that snatched 
them from the jaws of death, and made them cling to and 
rejoice in the Cross, and large numbers were pressing forward 
and asking to see Jesus. How good is God ! How blessed are 
such reports from men soon to march with martial tread to deal 
and receive fatal shot on the bloody field ! . How cheering is the 
thought that our liberties are defended by such soldiers ! 

" After devotional exercises we adjourned, to meet at the same 
place in two weeks at 11 o'clock, a. m. 

" L. C. Vass, Permanent Clerk." 



374 christ in the camp; 

" Camp, Third Virginia Infantry, 
" Greenville, North Carolina, April 7. 
. . . "Already eighteen souls have been happily converted 
and brought to realize the inestimable value of a Saviour's love. 
And still the good work continues. Many are inquiring 
* What must we do to be saved ? ' And we believe it will increase 
and extend its influence until many more are convinced of their 
lost and ruined condition and persuaded to fly for safety to Him 
who alone can save. Sinners have been convicted in their tents 
and compelled, as it were, to attend our meetings. Even the 
vilest sinners — some of whom almost denied the existence of a 
God, and who never blanched in the presence of the foe — have 
been made to tremble under the sense of guilt, and here, in the 
forest, are being converted to God under our feeble but assid- 
uous eflbrts." . . . 

" Camp of Gordon's Georgia Brigade, April 23. 
"Under date of March 21, I wrote you that we were enjoying 
a season of revival from the presence of the Lord. I v/rite 
again, to say that since that time the gracious work has been 
steadily progressing among us. Our nightly meetings are still 
kept up, with most encouraging results. Almost every day wit- 
nesses the joyful conversion of some precious souls, and many 
are still anxiously asking, 'What must I do to be saved?' 
Since our meeting commenced we have baptized y^/)/, and on to- 
morrow we expect to baptize about toi others. About one hun- 
dred of the brigade have professed faith in Christ. We would 
render all the praise unto Him to whom belongeth salvation. 

"A. B. WOODFIN, 

" Chaplain Sixty-First Georgia Regiment." 

" Orange Court House, Tuesday, April 19. 
..." In the past month God has been very gracious to our 
soldiers.' He is pouring out in glorious copiousness His Holy 
Spirit upon them. It is not deemed prudent, at this time, to 
state with minuteness, the character and extent of this work of 
grace in different brigades, by name. Let it suffice to be known 
that in more than one-half of our brigades a mighty moral new 
organization is going on. Multitudes flock to the ministrations 
of the sanctuary; large numbers are declaring that sin is to 
them a burden, both heavy and hateful, and are crying out in 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 375 

the depth of their sorrow and shame, ' God be merciful to me, a 
sinner.' Many are rejoicing in hope. Considerably over three 
hundred have professed conversion since we last assembled to- 
gether. Neither men nor officers seem ashamed to stop their 
chaplain and tell him they want to talk about their soul's salva- 
tion. They are easily approached by the chaplain, and seem 
thankful for a tender word. One chaplain reported that in his 
brigade, the Christian officers would rise and publicly invite 
members of their commands to come and talk with them about 
their spiritual interests. In another brigade, a captain said to 
his company while they were on drill, ' I have led you in battle, 
and in paths of sin. Now I have given my heart to Christ, and 
I want to lead you, brave men, to this same Saviour. ■ W/io is 
willmg to follow me ? ' Every man said he would try ! The 
good work is progressing in our artillery. Such is the power 
of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks be unto God ! 
After hearing such glad tidings, the meeting, led by the chair- 
man, returned hearty thanks unto God for His signal mercy 
unto us. An interesting conversation arose as to the Church's 
prospect of a supply from the army for her ministry. More 
than twenty men, from the rank of colonel to that of private, 
were known to chaplains — then present — to have the ministry 
in view, and some were steadily prosecuting their studies. One 
man, who, twelve months ago, had no prospect of being of any 
value in the world, had been rescued from his death in sin 
through God's grace, had learned to read, and was working with 
much aptness for his Master's cause. Some of these persons 
possess very high abilities. The attention of all the chaplains 
was directed to the importance of seeking out among professors 
of religion, suitable men for the great work of preaching the 
Gospel. 

" L. C. Vass, Permanent Clerk." 

Brother J. A. Gresham, Wise's Brigade : " Our good meetings 
are still going on, with increased interest. Since their com- 
mencement, some eight or nine have professed religion — among 
them our captain ; and others are asking the prayers of God's 
people. We have had no minister to aid us, except our chap- 
lain. He has preached for us several times. He can't be with 
us often, on account of the scattered condition of our regiment. 
We have a large barn to hold our meetings in. We have three 



376 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

Bible-classes, which meet every Sunday. After the school is 
over, we have prayer-meeting, and then again at night. We 
have also formed a Christian Association, which meets every 
Wednesday evening, at 7 o'clock. I cannot inform you of the 
condition of the regiment, on account of its being so scattered. 
There are no two companies together." 

[Extracts from my letters to the Christian Index -^ 
On Friday last, I preached for Davis's Mississippi Brigade, now 
on picket at " Peyton's Ford," and in the afternoon led down 
into the " liquid grave " twelve young men who had given me 
the most satisfactory evidence of " repentance toward God and 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." The large congregation which 
lined the banks of the *' Rapidan " was greatly moved, and I 
trust that the ordinance was blessed to the good of souls. The 
stream was very rapid (owing to the recent rains) and the whole 
scene vividly reminded me of those occasions upon which the 
great " forerunner " baptized soldiers in the rapid stream of Jor- 
dan. I was told by an old citizen, that about fifty years ago, 
Mrs. General Madison (sister-in-law to the President) was bap- 
tized in the same place in the presence of a large crowd, of 
which the President was one. What would have been the feel- 
ings of the great expounder of the Constitution if he could 
have looked into the future and seen that at the same place, in 
fifty years, the ordinance of baptism would be administered to 
Southern soldiers in sight of the hostile lines of their " Northern 
brethren ? " 

The good work which I reported in this brigade some time 
ago still goes graciously on, though they have been tempora- 
rily deprived of their chapel and the services of their efficient 
chaplain. The private Christians are working and praying, and 
the Lord is abundantly blessing their efforts. And all through 
the army there are revivals — the chaplains and missionaries 
(alas ! there are now but few of the latter) seem to appreciate 
the importance of getting as large a number as possible to ac- 
cept the glad tidings ere the opening of the campaign. It adds 
materially to the solemn responsibilities of our preaching to re- 
member, that in every congregation vv^e probably address those 
who will fall in the impending battle. Everything portends an 
early move, if the protracted rains shall cease. Exactly what 
the move will be, I, of course, have no means of knowing, and 
would not say if I did. But this much I may say — recent prep- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 377 

arations do not indicate on the part of *' Marse Robert " any de- 
sign of accommodating the Northern press by " evacuating Vir- 
ginia." General Lee issued an order the other day, intimating 
that all lady visitors in the neighborhood of camp had best go 
to the rear as soon as practicable, and in accordance with the 
order every train is loaded with the wives of officers and sol- 
diers who have been spending happy days with their loved ones. 
I have witnessed at the cars several parting scenes which 
touched me deeply. At the signal for the cars to start, manly 
frames choke with emotion, and helpless womanhood weeps bit- 
ter tears, at what may prove a final parting. Mrs. General 

veils her face that she may conceal from rude gazes the bitter 
anguish of a parting which may know no meeting again — while 
on the next seat the wife of some rough private sobs aloud as 
she parts from her all who may leave her and her little ones to 
the cold charities of the world. 

Yesterday was the anniversary of the secession of Virginia 
and the first moving of the Virginia troops to the capture of 
Harper's Ferry, Norfolk, etc. Three years of carnage have 
passed by, many hearthstones of the " Old Dominion " have 
been polluted, her fields have been laid waste, blackened ruins 
mark where some of her proudest mansions stood, her sons 
have been slain, and her people draped in mourning ; but thus 
far she has borne herself proudly amidst the battle-storm, and 
she now enters upon the fourth year of the war with the same 
stern resolve as when her ''Sic semper tyrannis'' first rung out 
defiance to the foe. What shall be the end of this year ? Shall 
it terminate, or serve to indefinitely protract, the war ? For my- 
self, I have but one fear. I do not doubt the valor or the pa- 
tient endurance of the army or the people at home. I only fear 
that we may " trust in an arm of flesh " — may look to Lee and 
Johnston instead of to the " Lord of hosts." 

Our chaplains' meeting on last Tuesday was of more than 
usual interest, since the report elicited showed a very general 
revival throughout the army. Extensive revivals were reported 
in Kirkland's, Davis's, Cooke's, Harris's, Wright's, Perrin's, 
Scales's, Lane's, Stonewall, J. M. Jones's, Steuart's, Gordon's, 
Battle's and Daniels's Brigades and portions of the Artillery of 
both Corps, while in all of the brigades there was a very hope- 
ful state of things. The Lord is evidently with us in these 



378 

camps, and if we remain here for some days longer, there is 
every prospect of an even more glorious work than we had last 
summer and fall. A brother told of a captain in a Georgia regi- 
ment who had been a very wicked man, but who, on making a 
profession of religion, recently, called his company together and 
told them that they had followed him into many hard-fought 
battles — that he had also led them into sin, and that he now 
called upon them to follow him into the service in which he had 
just enlisted. A large proportion of that company have since 
professed conversion, and are following their brave captain as he 
follows Christ. 

Another brother mentioned a fact, confirmed by others, that 
the gambling and profanity in his brigade was almost entirely 
confined to the new recruits fresh from home. This is but one 
of the many proofs that might be given to show that tiie usual 
demoralization incident to camp life is very greatly counter- 
acted in our noble army. 

And one of the most interesting facts elicited was, that in al- 
most every brigade there are young brethren (many of them 
among the young converts) who have decided that, if the Lord 
spares them to the end of the war, they will devote themselves 
to the work of the Gospel ministry. Many of these are highly 
educated, and, before the war, were preparing themselves for, or 
actively engaged in, some secular calling. These young men 
should be remembered in the prayers of God's people all over 
the land, that the Lord would shield them in the hour of danger 
and prepare them by His Spirit for the glorious work of preach- 
ing the " glad tidings " of salvation — and earnest prayer should 
be made to the " Lord of the harvest " that He would raise up 
yet many more who, coming from this school of self-denial and 
privation, shall form a ministry more worthy than we to follow- 
in the footsteps of the " people's preacher." 

I had the privilege of baptizing eleven candidates again on 
yesterday — making sixty-seven that I have baptized within the 
past month. Rev. Dr. Burrows is again laboring in our camp, 
Rev. A. Broaddus, Sr., arrived on yesterday, and I learn that 
Rev. Dr. Jeter (who has recently spent several weeks of very 
successful labor in the artillery), and Rev. H. W. Dodge (pastor 
of our Church in Lynchburg, and one of the brightest orna- 
ments of the Virginia Baptist pulpit), will be on in a iQ\N days 
to remain some time with us. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 379 

Can't you send us some of your best Georgia Baptist 
preachers ? Brethren may think that I always " harp on one 
string," but I mean to harp on it until they remove the cause by 
coming up to our help in this great work. 

We are having beautiful weather now, and the indications of 
an early move grow stronger daily. I saw a large number of 
ambulances this morning at the Medical Purveyor's office, load- 
ing with " stretchers," bandages, etc., to distribute amongst the 
brigades. Alas ! that we should have need for so many of these ! 

J. W. J. 

Camp near Orange Court House, Virginia, April 22, 1864. 

From the date of the above letter to the opening of the cam- 
paign I was engaged in preaching every day in various com- 
mands, and witnessed many manifestations of God's presence 
and power. I met afterwards, in our field hospitals, several 
wounded men who told me that they had found Jesus in connec- 
tion with my preaching just before the opening of the cam- 
paign, and some of the other chaplains told me of others who 
said the same, and some of the most triumphant deaths of 
which I heard were of those who found " Christ in the camp " 
along the Rapidan. 

I was on a visit to my old seminary friends, Revs, Crawford 
H. Toy and W. L. Curry — having promised to aid them in a 
series of meetings — in their camp near Gordonsville, and I was 
just beginning a sermon to a large crowd of gallant Georgians 
when " the long roll " beat, the veterans fell in, and Longstreet's 
Corps was on the march for the battle of the Wilderness. 

Omitting such letters as describe the battles and comment on 
army movements, I append several other extracts from my letters 
to the Christian Index, 



In my previous letters I have not said as much as I desired 
with reference to our hospital work. Of course, the frequent 
witnessing of such scenes has a tendency to blunt one's sensibil- 
ities, and yet it would be mdeed a heart of steel that could 
remain untouched at the succession of woes constantly presented 
at our field hospitals. I have seen the old gray-haired sire 
anxiously pace to and fro as ambulance after ambulance brings 
in its mangled freight, and at last, perchance, his noble boy is 



380 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

borne in, or he learns that he has fallen on the gory field. I 
saw wounded the other day the last son of five noble boys, which 
a widowed mother had sent to the defence of the country. And 
then the groans of the poor fellows, as they bleed and die on the 
hard ground, with no mother, sister, or other loved one near to 
soothe their dying moments. But I turn from this part of the sad 
picture. I am glad to be able to say, that the arrangements for 
the comfort of our wounded are now much more complete than 
they have hitherto been. There are a larger number of ambu- 
lances, and a much better supply of hospital stores of every kind. 
And I bear willing testimony to the zeal and efficiency of most 
of our surgeons. 

The " Richmond Ambulance Committee " has been near the 
army for over three weeks, rendering invaluable assistance to 
the wounded of every State. They are^ thoroughly organized, 
and a set of real working men who do not mind taking off their 
coats and pitching right into anything which can promote the 
comfort of our poor wounded fellows. Rev. Dr. Burrows is one 
of the most efficient members of the organization, and may be 
seen any day, with coat off and sleeves rolled up, carrying a 
bucket of soup or lifting a wounded man. 

The results of the glorious revivals with which our army has 
been visited, have been manifested in the very large proportion 
of the wounded who express a calm confidence in Christ which 
renders them happy in their affliction. I have talked with poor 
fellows, dreadfully mangled and about to die, who were as com- 
posed and happy as if about to fall asleep under the parental 
roof I met a noble young Georgia officer who, too badly 
wounded to talk, yet wrote me on a slip of paper, in answer to 
my inquiries : " My whole trust is in Christ, and I feel perfectly re- 
signed to God's will. I am deeply grateful that it is no \vorse with 
me." Another noble boy, while breathing out his life, repeated 
over and over again, with childlike simplicity, "Jesus says, 'him 
that Cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out,' and I have gone 
to Him, and know that He will be true to His word." But, alas! 
there are others who die as they have lived, '* without God and 
■ without hope " — some of them in great agony of mind, but others 
with stoical indifference. But I must close, and follow our brave 
boys to other scenes of carnage and, I trust, to glorious victory. 

I learned of another incident, strikingly illustrating the military 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 381 

power of religion. In a brigade of five regiments, where there 
has recently been a glorious revival, two of the regiments, which 
had not shared in the revival, broke, while the three which had 
been thus blessed stood firm, and changed a threatened disaster 
into a victory, which elicited the commendation of the higher 
officers, and will secure the promotion of the colonel command- 
ing. 

Despite unfavorable surroundings the men do not neglect their 
little prayer-meetings, and thus the good work goes on. On a 
large part of the line, however, we have regular preaching, and 
a good deal of interest is manifested in the services. In Bryan's 
and Wofford's Georgia, Kershaw's South Carolina, and several 
other brigades, there are revivals of deep interest. Indeed, we 
might look for a very general revival throughout the army if the 
position of all the troops would admit of regular labor amongst 
them, and we had laborers to enter the glorious harvest. 

The past few weeks have been very unfavorable for religious 
services, as the weather has been too cold for outdoor exercises, 
and but few chapels have been completed, owing to scarcity of 
timber and transportation. I refer in this remark to the lines 
south of the Appomattox. Between the Appomattox and the 
James, and north of the James too (I believe), every brigade 
have one or more chapels, and there have been very decided 
manifestations of the revival spirit. In some of the brigades 
they are enjoying precious seasons of revival. A number of 
chapels have been completed on our part of the lines, others are 
in process of erection, and we are hoping for a like visitation of 
God's Spirit. Indeed, we have not been without manifestations 
of His goodness, but every week there have been a few to find 
peace in believing — the first droppings, we trust, of the copious 
shower in store for us. The prayer-meetings, Bible-classes, 
schools, etc., of last winter have been revived, and bid fair to be 
as interesting and profitable as then. Alas \ it is sad to miss so 
many of those who last winter were the leaders in these 
enterprises ; but it is sweet to think of them as now engaged in 
more blest employ, away from the sufferings of earth, and free 
from " v/ar's rude alarms." We shall need now larger supplies 
of religious reading matter, and it is hoped that the good breth- 
ren of Georgia will offer freely of what Sherman has not taken, 



382 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

to send the Index to our brave soldiers. Our Virginia Baptist 
Colportage Board, now that our Southern communications are 
so liable to interruption, and the railroads are impressed by the 
Government, will have to supply a larger proportion than ever of 
the religious reading and the preachers of this army ; and as 
the funds of the board are running low it is to be hoped that 
our Georgia brethren will give liberally of their means to help it 
send the Gospel to their sons and brothers in this army. I am 
sure that Brother Boykin (while Brother Wharton is in Virginia) 
will gladly receive and forward any contributions that may be 
sent him for this object. Brethren, whose homes have not been 
molested by the enemy, should send large thank offerings, and 
those who have lost, or are liable to lose by the enemy, should 
imitate the example of a good brother, who, after the enemy had 
robbed him of nearly everything he had, sent Brother Dickinson 
one hundred dollars for the soldiers, with the request that he 
would at least make a safe investment of that. 

The religious interest in the army has been on the increase for 
the past few weeks, and many of the brigades are enjoying revivals. 
I had the pleasure of baptizing, the Other day, in a pond be- 
tween our line of battle and our picket line, and in full view of 
the enemy. The ceremony was solemn and impressive, and I 
trust that it was blessed to the good of the congregation. 

The Rev. Dr. Armstrong, who was so long a victim of " Beast " 
Butler's cruelty in Norfolk, has come to this army as Presby- 
terian minister to A. P. Hill's Corps. He has been regarded as 
one of the ablest men in the denomination, and will yet find in 
the army an ample field for his talents. 

There have been certain changes in our lines within the past 
week which have lessened the opportunites for preaching (or 
rather the number of regiments that may be assembled for 
preaching), and the details for picket duty, work on our fortifica- 
tions, mining, etc., are very heavy ; but the prayer-meetings are 
regularly kept up in most of the regiments, and in those brigades 
where it is practicable to have preaching the chaplains are work- 
ing faithfully. ^ 

I say cJiaplains, for I know of but two missionaries now pres- 
ent in this whole army. Those good brethren who resolved at 
the Georgia Baptist Convention that governmental chaplaincies 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 383 

were wrong, and they would do the work of army evangehzation 
as voluntary missionaries, must all have gone to General Hood's 
army. I have seen none of them here, though I constantly hear 
as I go amongst Georgia troops, " you are the only Baptist 
preacher I have seen in a long time." 

There are very interesting revivals in Bryan's, Wofford's 
Thomas's, and VVright's Georgia Brigades, as also in several 
brigades from other States. I wish that some of the good 
Baptist brethren of Georgia, who are preaching two or three times 
per month to small congregations, could witness such a scene as I 
witnessed at Wright's Georgia Brigade last night. Assembled 
on the ramparts and on the outside of the trenches, was an im- 
mense congregation whose upturned faces showed in the moon- 
beams, listening eagerly to the truth as the preacher urged an im- 
mediate attention to the claims of the Gospel, and when he 
ceased, and the usual invitation was given, an old familiar hymn 
rose clear and strong from the great Jieart of the congregation, 
and about one hundred young men came forward for prayer, as 
calmly, but as determinedly as if they were marching to meet 
their country's foe. And then there rose the voice of prayer in 
which the whole congregation seemed to join in heart. Some 
words of counsel were spoken, a parting hymn sung, and the 
congregation dismissed, only to crowd around the preacher, who 
had papers, tracts and Testaments to distribute, with as much 
eagerness to get the little treasures as if they were diamonds, 
rubies, or gold. This is a scene of nightjy occurrence. And yet 
this brigade, from the heart of Georgia, and so largely Baptistic in 
sentiment, that a large mass of its converts (I learn) desire to 
connect themselves with Baptist Churches, has never had a Bap- 
tist chaplain or permanent missionary. Is there no earnest, 
working brother among the large Baptist ministry of Georgia 
who is willing to come and labor among these brave men ? 
The chaplains connected with the brigade are faithful men, but 
they themselves join in the general wish that there should also 
be a Baptist laborer among them. 

Brother Curry, of Bryan's Brigade, and Brother Hyman, of 
Thomas's Brigade, have baptized a number recently, and I ex- 
pect to baptize a number in Wright's Brigade in a few days. 

A large part of our army is so situated now that religious ser- 
vices are entirely practicable, and the brethren are improving the 



384 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

opportunity. In riding along the trenches about sundown, one 
sees, almost every hundred yards, a company of worshippers, 
met either to hear a sermon or to engage in the prayer-meeting. 
While preaching the other evening, I heard from where I stood 
the voice of three other ministers, and the songs of several prayer- 
meetings. But then in other parts of the line there is an eager 
desire to have preaching, but no preacher to meet the demand. 
A number of the brigades are enjoying interesting revivals. 
Brother Hyman, of the Forty-ninth Georgia, has recently baptized 
thirty in Thomas's Brigade. I have baptized eight in Wright's 
Brigade, and other brethren have baptized a number. A num- 
ber of others have connected themselves with other denomina- 
tions. The cry is still for more earnest, permanent preachers — 
men who can and will stick to their posts in cloud as well as 
sunshine. 

The religious interest in the army is on the increase, and only 
an opportunity for regular and uninterrupted services and more 
faithful laborers are wanted, that the glorious scenes witnessed 
on the Rapidan may be re-enacted here. Even amid the 
adverse circumstances which surround us, the revival spirit is 
kept alive and many souls are being "born again" in the 
trenches. It is of nightly occurrence to see a large crowd as- 
sembled in the trenches for preaching, and I have not within the 
past two months seen an invitation for inquirers to come for- 
ward for prayer, that there were not at least a few and often 
large numbers to avail themselves of it. I witnessed, last Sun- 
day afternoon, a beautiful baptismal scene. Assembled on the 
bank of a little pond just in the rear of the trenches was a large 
crowd of bronzed veterans from Virginia, South Carolina and 
North Carolina. The great heart of the congregation united in 
singing, "People of the living God ;" some passages of Scripture 
bearing on the ordinance were read, and prayer offered for 
the presence and blessing of the Master, and then, as "Am I a 
soldier of the Cross ? " was sung " with the spirit and under- 
standing," Brother W. B. Carson, chaplain of the Fourteenth 
South Carolina, led the willing converts " down into the water " 
and " buried " them with Christ in baptism. Brother J. J. D. 
Renfroe, of the Tenth Alabama Reginient, has baptized a num- 
ber recently in his own brigade and in Law's. Other brethren 
are frequently doing the same, and numbers of young converts 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 385 

are uniting with other denominations. I have not heard from 
Thomas's or Wright's Georgia Brigade recently, but presume 
that the good work still goes on in these brigades. 

Rev. J. C. Cranberry, Methodist missionary to Hill's Corps 
(and, by the way, one of the ablest preachers and most efficient 
workers I know), has, within the past two Sabbaths, preached on 
army missions and taken up collections at Washington street 
and Market street Methodist Churches, Petersburg. At the 
former he secured five thousand and at the latter seven thousand 
dollars — a liberal contribution, when we remember the circum- 
stances which surround these churches; and- some of our more 
highly-favored brethren who " eat the bread of quietness," would 
do well to imitate this noble example in sending the Gospel to 
our brave soldiers. Our Virginia Baptist Colportage Board is 
in need of funds to carry on its work, and, as it has never re- 
garded State lines in the prosecution of its work in the army, but 
has sent its colporters and missionaries and distributed its pub- 
lications amongst the troops of all States alike, it has claims 
upon the brethren of Georgia which have not been and will not 
be disregarded. 

The people of Petersburg are bearing themselves nobly in this 
crisis in their history ; there is nothing like a panic, but the men 
have shouldered their muskets determined to defend their homes 
to the last, and the women (God bless them) are devoting them- 
selves nobly to the relief of our sick and wounded. I was at a 
hospital the other day from which the wounded were being re- 
moved because of the shelling, and saw a number of ladies bear- 
ing delicacies to our poor fellows and ministering with the utmost 
tenderness to their wants, regardless of the missiles of death 
which the foe was hurling at them. On yesterday (Saturday) 
most of the churches were opened, and Yankee shells mingled 
their discordant notes with the songs of praise. Save this con- 
tinued shelling all was quiet along the lines on yesterday, and 
it was my privilege to spend the day in the trenches " breaking 
the bread of life " to our brave boys who crowded to hear the 
Gospel, and receive the large number of Indexes which I for- 
tunately had for distribution. As I passed through the hos- 
pital the other day a gallant Georgia officer recognized the 
Index in my hand, called to me for one, and seemed as glad 
to get it as if he had just met a friend from home. 

25 J. W. J. 



386 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

The following is an extract from a letter of an officer of the 
Eighteenth Virginia Cavalry, Imboden's Brigade. It refers to 
the fight of General Imboden, before the main battle near New 
Market : " Before the charge, and while we were in line, the 
command to dismount was given, when our noble chaplain sang 
a hymn and then prayed, the whole regiment kneeling. It was 
a solemn and impressive sight just on the eve of battle, and God 
blessed our arms with victory. The chaplain prayed that if it 
should please God we might scatter our enemies, but oh ! pre- 
serve the lives of those dear ones, and prolong them for Thy 
glory. Truly did God answer the prayer of the devout old 
man — they were scattered to the four winds, and we lost not a 
man." 

A writer from the Army of Northern Virginia, when the pres- 
ent campaign had been in progress twenty-one days, said : 
*' Frequent prayer-meetings have been held in the trenches ; and 
even on the advance skirmish line, within easy musket range of 
the enemy, the song of praise and the voice of supplication have 
been heard. Sermons have also been preached in the trenches — 
albeit, they have sometimes been cut short by the bursting of 
the shell or the whistling of the minnie." 

" Rev. Dr. Burrows baptized twenty-two soldiers at Chaffin's 
Bluff, a week or two since." 

•'Richmond, Virginia, Jan. i, 1865. 

" We are receiving some very refreshing accounts of the work 
of grace in the army from our missionaries : 

" Rev. P. H. Fontaine reports the baptism of fifty soldiers. 

" Rev. Harvey Hatcher has held several very interesting meet- 
ings, in which some seventy souls professed faith in Christ. 
Brother Hatcher is employed by the board to visit destitute 
regiments and battalions. He is eminently adapted to army 
work. 

Brother R. W. Cridlin, of the Thirty-eighth Virginia, has 
been greatly blessed. A large proportion of his regiment have 
made a profession of faith in Christ since Brother Cridlin has 
been connected with it. 

" Rev. A. Broaddus has recently spent two weeks in protracted 
meetings in Charlottesville, in which forty persons professed con- 
version. Rev. J. Wm. Jones has baptized within twelve months 
two hundred and twenty -two soldiers. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. ^ 387 

"Rev. T. Hume, of Petersburg, writes as follows: I have 
baptized here, and in adjacent parts, during the past six months, 
fifty-four — mostly young men of great promise. Some now are 
awaiting baptism, and not a few scattered about in the trenches 
and hospitals are earnest seekers after salvation.' 

''A. E. D." 

Camp near Petersburg, January 2. 
. . . The very active campaign in which the "Army of the 
Valley " has been engaged has been very unfavorable to religious 
services, and, I regret to add, a number of chaplains have re- 
signed ; but, as we were blessed with fine weather during my 
stay, I found every day large and attentive congregations, and 
witnessed some indications that the revival spirit had not died 
out, but only wanted favorable influences to fan the spark into a 
flame. The Second Corps has now gone into winter-quarters 
(no matter where), and, under the encouragement of their 
Christian commander (General John B. Gordon), chapels are 
being built in most of the camps, and it is to be hoped that a 
very decided religious influence will prevail this winter. But 
they greatly need more preachers. I was indebted for trans- 
portation, from Staunton to the army .and back, to Brother C, F. 
Fry, one of the most efficient colporters of our Virginia Baptist 
Board. Brother Fry has a little covered wagon admirably 
arranged for carrying his tracts, books, rations, forage, etc., in 
which he kindly took me. For several days in Staunton I 
enjoyed the hospitality of Brother Geo. B. Taylor. Besides the 
duties of his pastorate, Brother Taylor is doing a great work in 
the Staunton hospitals. 

Occasional. 

"Applewood, December 31, 1864. 
" To-day closes the eventful year 1864! Reflections crowd 
the memory almost to stupefaction. Faith and patience have 
their amplest verge, piety and patriotism their widest scope, in 
our present condition. Not unlike the Israelites, we are passing 
through ' darkness drear ' to better and brighter prospects be- 
yond. Among the memories of the past my mind rests upon 
the close of 1863. Then in prison on Johnston's Island we 
thought it not unfitting. to spend the day in religious observances. 
The 103d Psalm was read and briefly commented on. Officers, 



388 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

not prcaclicrs, spoke gratefully of the mercy of God to them in 
blessing their imprisonment. Fifteen had professed faith in 
Christ. Twenty others gave the hand in pledge of a new life. 
It was a holy, blessed day to the souls of many, though the 
body was shut up in close imprisonment. We could all thank 
God for the freedom of the soul, and for soul 7'eligion. Among 
the converts was Lieutenant Wm. J. Read, of Tennessee, son of 
Dr. Read, missionary of the Baptist Central Foreign Missions to 
Siam. From this time the work spread till there was a great 
revival among the officers imprisoned there. There were many 
religious men among the officers. There were 13 preachers 
among them — 6 Baptist, 6 Methodist and i Episcopalian. 
There were 102 Baptists, 95 Methodists, 45 Presbyterians, 37 
Episcopalians, a few Catholics, Lutherans, Jews, and others who 
had a religion of some sort, among the prisoners, and over lOO 
professed during the winter, spring and summer. Thus God 
sanctifies sufferings and overrules the wrath of man. There is 
a pleasant state of religious feeling in the Twenty-fourth Regi- 
ment, Virginia Cavalry. We have occasional preaching and 
frequent prayer-meetings among the young men. They conduct 
them almost exclusively. We have several who exercise a public 
gift in speaking. When our chapel is completed we hope to 
have a protracted meeting. We have seen a good deal of hard 
service this summer ; and since the 7th of October my squadron 
has been eng'acred in five severe battles and three or four 
skirmishes. I got four men slightly wounded, but not one 
killed. The regiment, in the same engagement, got four killed 
and six wounded. Considering how hard the fighting has been, 
the imminent perils through which we have passed, the many 
narrow escapes we have had, I most freely and gladly acknow- 
ledge the good hand of the Lord was with us. In the future it 
is easy to foresee the path of peril and blood before us. My 
speech to my men, in the presence of the enemy; is, 'There are 
the Yankees, boys — otir cause is just — trust in God, and charge 
them! This has been my motto, and I expect it to be so long 
as I find the Yankees the avowed enemies of my country's 
freedom. 

" L. W. Allen." 

A correspondent of the Biblical Recorder mentions a Confeder- 
ate captain, who in his company, composed of volunteers and 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 389 

conscripts from different section of the country, has had no 
man charged with stealing and no deserter since the war began — 
a fact due to his instruction that "pressing" is stealing, and 
" running blockade " equivalent to desertion ; while, because of 
his discountenance of the vices of gambling, drunkenness and 
profanity, not one plays cards or ever gets intoxicated, and only 
two swear and they very seldom. When not on duty they spend 
their time in prayer-meetings, in singing and innocent amuse- 
ments ; and a large majority have become church-members. 

" Camp near Petersburg, February 5, 1865. 
" God has bestowed on my regiment a rich blessing. Sixteen 
converts have been added to the different religious denomina- 
tions, several backsliders have been reclaimed, and many are 
still inquiring with mournful hearts the way to heaven. The 
prospect is good and the people of God are in the harness labor- 
ing for the salvation of souls. Our meeting is still in progress. 
Pray for us. 

" E. B. Barrett, Chaplain Forty-fifth Georgia Regiment." 

How the memories of those days crowd upon me, as I sit in 
my quiet study twenty-three years after those stirring scenes. 
Those bright days before the opening of the campaign, when 
our camps were vocal with God's praises and hundreds of our 
brave boys were turning to the Lord — those days of constant 
battle, carnage, death, when Lee withstood Grant's overwhelming 
force from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, and from Cold 
Harbor to Petersburg, and left hors de combat more of " General 
Grant's people " than he himself had — those long, weary days 
in forty miles of entrenchments, when the " men in gray " were 
" worn away by attrition," and " the thin line was stretched until 
it broke " — and amid it all the precious seasons of worship, the 
realization of the presence and blessing of Jesus, and the assur- 
ance that God's Spirit was ever present in His convicting, con- 
verting, sanctifying power. I try to forget the *' bitter memories 
of a stormy past," but the hallowed associations that cluster 
around " Christ in the camp," on the march, in the bivouac, on 
the battle-field, in the trenches, in the hospital, in life, in death — 
these linger forever, *' a sweet savor " in my memory. God be 
praised for what our eyes saw, our ears heard, and our hearts felt 
of His presence and power during that memorable campaign of 
1864-65. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

RESULTS OF THE WORK AND PROOFS OF ITS GENUINENESS. 

FROM the minutes of our Chaplains' Association (now in 
my possession, by the kind courtesy of the accomphshed 
secretary and chaplain, Rev. L. C. Vass), the estimate of other 
chaplains and missionaries in position to know, and a very 
careful compilation of facts and figures from files of religious 
newspapers, and hundreds of letters and narratives from chap- 
lains, missionaries, and colporters, I make the following estimate 
of the number of men in the Army of Northern Virginia who 
professed faith in Christ during the four years of its existence. 
During the fall and winter of 1862-63, and spring of 1863, there 
were at least 1,500 professions. From August, 1863, to the 1st 
of January, 1864, at least 5,000 found peace in believing. From 
January, 1864, to the opening of the Wilderness campaign, at 
least 2,000 more were added to this number. And from May, 
1864, to April, 1865, it is a low estimate to put the number of 
converts at 4,000. 

Add to these figures at least 2,500 who, during the war, found 
Jesus in the hospitals, at home, or in Northern prisons (for Christ 
was in the prisons, and there were some precious revivals at 
Point Lookout, Fort Delaware, Elmira, Johnson's Island, and 
other points), and we have a grand total of at least 15,000 sol- 
diers of Lee's army who professed faith in Jesus during the four 
years of the war. 

Rev. Dr. Bennett (" Great Revival in the Southern Armies," 
page 413) makes the following estimate of the number of con- 
versions in all of the Confederate armies : 

" Up to January, 1865, it was estimated that nearly 07ie liundred 
a7id fifty thoiisajid soldiQYS had been converted during the progress 
of the war, and it was believed that fully one-third of all the soldiers 
in the field were praying men, and members of some branch of 
the Christian Church. A large proportion of the higher officers 
were men of faith and prayer, and many others, though not pro- 
(390) 



RELIGION IN lee's ARMY. 391 

fessedly religious, were moral and respectful to all the religious 
services, and confessed the value of the revival in promoting the 
efficiency of the army." 

If these figures are correct, then the estimate for Lee's army 
ought to be increased to at least 50,000, as fully one-third of 
the converts were in that army. I am fully satisfied that my 
own estimate is too low (there were, of course, many professions 
of conversion which were never reported at all, but " whose 
record is on high,") but I have been very anxious in all of the 
statements I have made about this great work not to exaggerate 
in the least, and I have, therefore, preferred to underestimate rather 
than to risk overestimating these grand results. 

What a noble band of recruits for the army of the Lord ! 
Was not " Christ in the camp " a vital, real power; and was not 
our camp indeed " a school of Christ? " 

But figures cannot, of course, give a tithe of the results of a 
great revival. The bringing back of backsliders, the quickening . 
of the zeal, and faith, and general consecration of God's people, 
the comfort, the joy, the peace, the strength for hardships, priva- 
tions, sufferings, trials, temptations — these cannot be counted, but 
are really of far more value than mere numbers of professed 
converts. Add to all this, the joy and gladness which these re- 
vivals carried to " loved ones at home " who were wont to spend 
sleepless nights thinking of, and praying for the soldier boy at 
the front, and the reflex influence upon the Churches, many of 
■which were blessed with great revivals, directly traceable to our 
army work, and eternity alone will be able to estimate the glo- 
rious results of these army revivals. 

But I will be asked — have been asked — " Was this a genuine 
and permanent work of grace ? Was it not a mere animal ex- 
citement produced by the dangers to which the men were 
exposed, and liable to pass off when those dangers were removed ? 
Are not the accounts of this army work exaggerated ? Was not 
there an abounding wickedness in the army, even to the close 
of the war? " 

Most certainly there was. I have been very unfortunate if, in 
endeavoring to portray vividly the power of religion in Lee's 
army, I have been understood as representing that the millen- 
nium dawned upon us, or that w^ickedness and vice were entirely 
banished from our camps. Far from it. 

It was not uncommon, even during our most powerful revivals, 



392 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

to see a party playing cards not far from where the preacher 
stood, and to hear the profane oath or the vulgar jest as you 
came from the place of prayer, and visitors would be, naturally, 
greatly shocked at this state of things. 

But I suspect that during the most powerful revivals in our 
towns and cities, now, precisely the same state of things constantly 
exists, only green blinds or stained glass hide the view, and 
church walls obstruct the sound. In the camps all was open, 
and could be seen and heard. 

There is no doubt that many of the professions of religion in 
the army were spurious. This has been true in every revival — 
from the days of Judas Iscariot and Simon Magus — and it was 
not to be expected that our army work would prove an 
exception. 

And yet I do not hesitate to affirm — and think that I can 
abundantly prove — that the revivals in our camps were as genu- 
ine works of grace as any that occur in our churches at home — 
that as large a proportion of the converts proved the reality of 
their professions as in any revivals which the world ever saw. I 
content myself with this calm statement, though I believe that 
the facts would justify my putting it much more strongly. 

The very material of which our congregations were composed 
was a safeguard against undue animal excitement in the 
meetings. 

We had not women and children, but men to deal with — men 
who were accustomed to go into the ** leaden and iron hail of* 
battle," and to face death every day, and who could not have 
been " scared into religion," even if the preachers had tried to 
do so. 

Besides, there were ministers of every denomination and of 
different temperaments co-operating together, and if one were 
disposed to get up any undue excitement, or to use improper 
" machinery," another would have restrained him. 

The Old School Synod of Virginia, in its " Narrative of the 
State of Religion," says : " The history of the world and of the 
Church presents few things more extraordinary than the work 
of God in the army. An army has generally been considered a 
school of vice. It is the very profession of a soldier to kill and 
destroy. How can the sensibilities fail to be hardened, and the 
moral perceptions to be blunted ? Removed from the happy 
influences of the Church, and from the refining, sustaining, eleva- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 393 

ting society of wife, mother, sister, at home ; living a life now of 
great excitement, and now of dangerous leisure, the soldier, it 
was supposed, had little chance of being saved. It was fully as 
much as could be reasonably expected, if those who professed 
the name of Christ did not fall away, and make shipwreck of 
their profession. But the extraordinary spectacle is now pre- 
sented to us, of an army in which there is more zeal, apparently, 
for God and the salvation of sinners, than there is in the Church 
at home. Making all due allowance for unconscious exaggera- 
tion in the statements which come to us, and discounting not a 
few cases of spurious conversions, there can be no doubt that the 
valley of Achor has become a door of hope to our brethren in 
the field, and that a very large number of them have been turned 
unto God." 

The Southern Baptist Convention, at its session for 1863, 
adopted the following resolutions : 

''Resolved, That it is the sense of this body, that the field 
opened in the army for pious labor is one of the most important 
that can be opened at present ; and that the providence of God 
calls loudly on His people to make prompt and vigorous efforts 
to secure the services of chaplains, and to send forth missionaries 
and colporters into the field. 

''Resolved, That the pastors of our churches be, and are hereby, 
earnestly requested to bring this subject prominently and fre- 
quently to the attention of their people ; and also the duty of 
constant supplication of the Divine blessing upon such labors 
among our soldiers, that we may be obedient to the sacred com- 
mand, ' Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy 
might' " 

The Virginia Baptist General Association, the Virginia Metho- 
dist Conference, the Virginia Episcopal Council, and other re- 
ligious bodies bore testimony even more emphatic, and I might 
quote from some of the most distinguished ministers of all of the 
evangelical denominations as to the extent, power and genuine- 
ness of this great work. 

Rev. B. T. Lacy, missionary chaplain in Jackson's Corps, in 
an address before his S5mod, said, in speaking of the genuineness 
of the revival work in the army : 

" In this matter there is one safeguard in the camp. They are 
all grown men ; even the sick are away in the hospitals. Most 
of the elements are absent upon which mere enthusiasm operates. 



394 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

He was satisfied the ordinary evil results from religious excite- 
ments are less in the army than at home." 

Rev. Dr. Theodorick Pryor, of the Presbyterian Church, who 
labored in the army with great ability and a burning zeal which 
younger men might covet, thus gives his impressions of the 
work : 

" Whilst with the army (a period of about two years) my im- 
pressions were most favorable as to the influence and effect of 
religious truth. It appeared to me that during a career of min- 
isterial experience extending through thirty-four years I had 
never witnessed more precious seasons of grace, or more signal 
displays of Divine mercy, than it was my privilege to witness in 
the army. . . . Never before was it my privilege to preach to as 
large congregations, or to congregations more respectful in de- 
portment, more serious, and upon whom the truth of God seemed 
to have more marked power and effect." 

I might quote pages of testimony to the same effect from 
leading representatives of all of the evangelical denominations. 

But, after all, the best evidence of the genuineness of the revi- 
val is to be found in the after lives of professed Christians, and 
of the young converts. 

That revival which does not result in more consecration on 
the part of Christians, and a "godly walk and conversation " on 
the part of the new converts, is not worth calling a revival. 

I. might cite hundreds of cases that came under my own ob- 
servation where lukewarm, careless Christians were stirred up 
to their duty, and made more zealous and efficient workers for 
Christ than ever before. 

I recall the case of a young lawyer who had borne an out- 
wardly consistent character since he had united with the Church 
some years before the war, but who (although a ready speaker 
at the bar or on the hustings) could never be induced to lead a 
prayer-meeting, open a Sunday-school, or conduct family wor- 
ship — fluent and eloquent for client or party, but dumb when 
asked to speak for Christ. 

For some time after joining the army his chaplain urged him 
in vain to take an active part in the meetings. But after his 
heart was touched by the power of one of the revivals, and just 
after a great battle, he came to the chaplain and said : " I wish 
you would call on me to lead in prayer at the meeting to-night. 
I have been persuading myself that it was not my duty, but I 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 395 

have been recently led to think that I might be wrong, and as I 
saw my men fall around me to-day (he was captain of one of the 
companies) I was made to feel keenly that I had not exerted 
over them the influence which I ought to have done, and to 
register a solemn vow that if God would spare me I would be 
more faithful in the future." 

He became henceforth one of the most active, useful Christian 
officers in the army, was spared through the war, and is to-day 
one of the most efficient laymen in Virginia. 

I recall a captain from one of the Southern States who became 
one of the leading workers in his brigade, and who since the 
war has been one of the most actively useful and one of the most 
liberal contributors to every good object of all of the laymen in 
his State. And yet I learn he was of so little account to his Church, 
so careless in meeting his Church duties, before he entered the 
army, that the Church was thinking seriously of excluding him 
from her fellowship. 

The Southern Presbyterian gives the following concerning 
Colonel Lewis Minor Coleman, of whom I have already had an 
extended notice. 

" The following statement by the Richmond correspondent of 
the Christian Index is only one instance of what may be many 
times repeated, if we but have faith in God and do not stint our 
prayers. Out of the army and from the bloody battle-field God 
will raise up faithful servants and able preachers of the precious 
Gospel. 

*' This recalls a fact of which I had designed to speak some time 
since. The Christian character of Lieutenant-Colonel L. M. Cole- 
man, formerly professor of Latin in the University of Virginia, was 
wonderfully developed by the waf. Before going into the field, 
notwithstanding his rare mental gifts, he was undemonstrative 
and retiring in religious rpatters, shrinking even from public 
prayer, and scarcely, if ever, rising to the boldness of an exhor- 
tation. But thrown among his men, under circumstances which 
would have left them without the means of grace if he had not 
broken the thrall of this silence, he rose to the height of the oc- 
casion ; and in the camp, on the march, whatever the weather, 
he was found at reveille in front of his company, with eloquent 
prayer invoking the blessing and aid of Almighty God on them 
and their undertaking. He became a minister in everything 
except the accidents of the office — licensure and ordination — and 



396 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

he had decided, if his Hfe were spared until the return of peace, 
to take his place among the * legates of the skies' in the Baptist 
pulpit. Here, then, was one educated by the Holy Spirit, for the 
ministry, in the school of this zuar. Why may we not look with 
hopeful eyes to the army, therefore, as a sphere of triumph 
for the Gospel, where believers may be edified in the faith, and 
faith, the gift of God, may be imparted to sinners ? " 

General C. A. Evans, of Georgia (the gallant and accomplished 
soldier who succeeded General Gordon in his brigade and then 
in his division), was a leading lawyer before the war, but became 
very active as a Christian in the army, and was gradually led to 
decide that he would become a preacher of the Gospel if spared 
to see the close of the war. 

When on a visit to Athens, Georgia, in 1869, it was my privi- 
lege to find him pastor of the Methodist Church there, to fill his 
pulpit, to renew at his hospitable board the Christian friendship 
formed in the camp, and to learn from him that three others of 
his military family had consecrated themselves to the work of 
preaching the Gospel. General Evans is now one of the leading 
preachers in his Church. 

There were reported at one of our chaplains' meetings twenty 
soldiers — from the rank of colonel down — who had determined 
to preach. I received from our colleges and theological semi- 
naries in 1866 some very striking statistics as to the large num- 
ber of soldiers who were entering the ministry — and I have 
strong reasons for the statement that a very large proportion 
of our evangelical preachers, under sixty and over thirty-five, at 
the South, learned in the army to "endure hardness as good 
soldiers of Jesus Christ." 

And certainly a very large" proportion of our most efficient 
church-members within the past twenty years have been those 
who found " Christ in the camp," or. had the pure gold of their 
Christian character refined and purified by the fiery trials through 
Avhich they were called to pass. Rev. Dr. Richard Hugh Bagby, 
of Bruington, Virginia, told me that of twenty-seven members of 
his Church, who returned at the close of the war, all save tzuo 
came hack more earnest Oiristians and more efficient churcJi- 
uzembers than tJiey had ever been, and many other pastors have 
borne similar testimony. 

A recent letter from a gallant soldier and active Christian 
worker in the noble little State of South Carolina tells me of the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE*S ARMV. 397 

two most active and useful laymen in his section, who found 
*' Christ in the camp," and in travelling all over the South I 
have found illustrations of this in well-nigh every community 
which I have visited. 

And certainly the young converts, while in camp, met admi- 
rably all of the tests of genuine conversion. Let me cull only a few 
illustrations from a large mass of material in my possession. I 
remember one night in Hays's Louisiana Brigade one of the 
most gallant, popular and influential captains in the command 
professed conversion, and a few minutes afterwards I whispered 
to him, while we were singing, that I should call on him to lead 
in prayer as soon as we finished the hymn. He at once replied : 
" It would be a great trial for me to do so before this vast crowd 
of my old comrades, but if you think I ought to lead in prayer, 
I will do the best I can." I have rarely heard a more appro- 
priate, tender and every way effective prayer than he made. As 
I have before remarked, I heard hundreds of these young con- 
verts called on to lead in prayer and never knew of one who 
refused. 

And I have heard a number of chaplains bear emphatic testi- 
mony to the same effect. Indeed our army converts seemed to 
take it for granted that instead of being dumb Christians, they 
were to take up their cross at once in leading in prayer, and in 
speaking for Christ in the meetings. 

They used to have brigade prayer-meetings, regim.ent prayer- 
meetings, company prayer-meetings and mess prayer-meetings, 
and prayer-meetings to prepare for prayer-meetings, until one of 
our missionaries (Rev. J. E. Chambliss) reported to our Chap- 
lains' Association that he could find no time in Davis's Missis- 
sippi Brigade to preach without conflicting with some prayer- 
meeting. 

I have incidentally illustrated the earnestness with which 
these young converts went to work to lead their comrades to 
Christ, and have space here for only one more illustration of 
this point. 

In Gordon's Georgia Brigade (in a meeting conducted by my 
friend and brother. Dr. A. B. Woodfin, who was one of our 
most efficient chaplains and was greatly blessed in his work) 
there professed conversion one night a captain, who was known 
as one of" the bravest of the brave" in that brigade of heroes, 
and at the same time as one of the most wicked men in the 



398 

army. After the meeting was over he went back to his quarters 
rejoicing in his new-found hope, called his company around him, 
and with deep emotion made them a little talk to this effect : 
** Men, I have led you into many a battle, and you have followed 
me like men. Alas ! I have led you into all manner of wicked- 
ness and vice, and you have followed me in this too. I have 
now resolved to change my course. I have gone to Christ in 
sincere repentance and simple faith. I have enlisted under the 
banner of the Cross, and mean, by God's help, to prove a faith- 
ful soldier of Jesus as I have been a true soldier of my country. 

" I call upon you, my brave boys, to follow me as I shall try 
to follow * the Captain of our salvation,' and I want all who are 
willing to do so to come, here and now, and give me their 
hands and let me pray for them." 

It is hardly necessary to add that the effect was electrical. 
The men crowded around their loved captain, tears flowed freely, 
earnest prayers were offered, and the brave fellow continued his 
personal efforts until nearly every member of his company had 
found Jesus, and those former ringleaders in every species of 
vice had become a centre of powerful influence for the religious 
good of their regiment and brigade. 

One of the most potent instrumentalities in our work was the 
personal activity of the young converts, and I could easily fill 
pages with illustrations of this. 

I believe that a willingness to give of one's substance for the 
good of others is a test of genuine conversion, and that we 
should doubt the reality of that man's religion who (if properly 
instructed in his duty) always has money to squander on himself 
and never a d'ime for the cause of benevolence or God's suffering 
poor. I have never seen ^ore princely liberality than among 
these Christian soldiers. I have some old subscription papers — 
for regimental library, for tracts. Bibles and religious newspapers, 
for the Fredericksburg sufferers, and other benevolent objects — 
which show on the part of these men a self sacrificing liberality 
which would put to shame any Church in the land to day. 

In the winter of 1863-64 the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion of Posey's (afterwards Harris's) Mississippi Brigade led off 
in a movement which was followed by a number of other bri- 
gades, and deserves to be written in letters of gold on one of 
the brightest pages of our country's history. They solemnly 
resolved to fast 07ie day in every week in order that they might 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE^S ARMY. S99 

send that day's rations to the suffering poor of the city of Rich- 
mond. Think of it, church-members, who, in these days of 
plenty, plead poverty as an excuse for giving nothing to the cause 
of Christ; here were these poor soldiers (away from home, and 
many of them cut off from all communication with home), re- 
ceiving only eleven dollars per month in Confederate currency^ 
never getting more than half rations, and very frequently not 
that, voluntarily fasting one day in the iveek (poor fellows, they 
were often compelled to fast) in order to send that day's rations 
to God's poor in the city, for whose defence they were so freely 
and so heroically offering and sacrificing their lives. 

How easily church edifices could be built, pastors supported, 
missionaries sustained, colleges endowed, and every good cause 
pushed forward, if we had in our Churches to-day anything like 
the spirit of these Christian soldiers. 

How often have I seen these brave fellows, after they had 
won a hardly contested field, despite their almost complete ex- 
haustion, going over the ground to hunt up and care for the 
wounded of the enemy — binding up their wounds as best they 
could, carrying them to the field-hospitals, and providing sur- 
gical attendance, sharing with them their scant rations, bringing 
them water, building brush shelters to protect them from the 
sun, and proving " good Samaritans " indeed to men whom they 
had so lately met in the shock of battle. 

I might give scores of illustrations of this point, but must 
content myself now with the story of Richard Kirkland, " the 
hiunane hero of Fredericksburg',' as it is told by the gallant sol- 
dier and able jurist. General J. B. Kershaw, of South Carolina 
(now Judge Kershaw), who commanded the brigade at the time. 
I will only premise that Kirkland had professed conversion but 
a short time before, and will give the incident in General Ker- 
shaw's own eloquent words : 

''Camden, South Carolina, January 29; 1880. 
''To the Editor of the News and Courier : Your Columbia cor- 
respondent referred to the incident narrated here, telling the 
story as 'twas told to him, and inviting corrections. As such a 
deed should be recorded in the rigid simplicity of actual truth, I 
take the liberty of sending you for publication an accurate ac- 
count of a transaction every feature of which is indelibly im- 
pressed upon my memory. Very truly yours, 

*' J. B. Kershaw." 



400 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

" Richard Kirkland was the son of John Kirkland, an estimable 
citizen of Kershaw county, a plain, substantial farmer of the olden 
time. In 1 86 1 he entered, as a private. Captain J. D. Kennedy's 
Company (E) of the Second South Carolina Volunteers, in which 
company he was a sergeant in December, 1862. 

** The day after the sanguinary battle of Fredericksburg, Ker- 
shaw's Brigade occupied the road at the foot of Marye's hill and 
the ground about Marye's house, the scene of their desperate 
defence of the day before. One hundred and fifty yards in front 
of the road, the stone-facing of which constituted the famous 
stone w^all, lay Syke's Division of Regulars, United States Army, 
between whom and our troops a murderous skirmish occupied 
the whole day, fatal to many who heedlessly exposed themselves, 
even for a moment. The ground between the lines was bridged 
with the wounded, dead, and dying Federals, victims of the many 
desperate and gallant assaults of that column of 30,000 brave men 
hurled vainly against that impregnable position. 

"All that day those wounded men rent the air with their 
groans and their agonizing cries of * Water ! water ! ' In the 
afternoon the general sat in the north room, up-stairs, of ]Mrs. 
Stevens's house, in front of the road, surveying the field, when 
Kirkland came up. With an expression of indignant remon- 
strance pervading his person, his manner, and the tone of his 
voice, he said : ' General ! I can't stand this.' 

" ' What is the matter, sergeant ? ' asked the general. 

" He replied : 'All night and all day Thave heard those poor 
people crying for water, and I can stand it no longer. I come to 
ask permission to go and give them water.' 

" The general regarded him for a moment with feelings of 
profound admiration, and said : ' Kirkland, don't you know that 
you would get a bullet through your head the moment you 
stepped over the wall ? ' 

" * Yes, sir,' he said, ' I know that ; but if you will let me, I 
am willing to try it' 

"After a pause the general said : ' Kirkland, I ought not to 
allow you to run such a risk, but the sentiment w^iich actuates 
you is so noble that I will not refuse your request, trusting that 
God may protect you. You may go.' 

" The sergeant's eye lighted up with pleasure. He said, 
* Thank you, sir,' and ran rapidly down-stairs. The general 
heard him pause for a moment, and then return, bounding two 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 401 

steps at a time. He thought the sergeant's heart had failed him. 
He was mistaken. The sergeant stopped at the door and said : 
'General, can I show a white handkerchief?' The general 
slowly shook his head, saying emphatically, * No, Kirkland, you 
can't do that.' 'All right,' he said, ' I'll take the chances,' and 
ran down with a bright smile on his handsome countenance. 

" With profound anxiety he was watched as he stepped over 
the wall on his errand of mercy — Christ-like mercy. Unharmed 
he reached the nearest sufferer. He knelt beside him, tenderly 
raised the drooping head, rested it gently upon his own noble 
breast, and poured the precious life-giving fluid down the fever- 
scorched throat. This done, he laid him tenderly down, placed 
his knapsack under his head, straightened out his broken limb, 
spread his overcoat over him, replaced his empty canteen with a 
full one, and turned to another sufferer. By this time his pur- 
pose was well understood on both sides, and all danger was over. 
From all parts of the field arose fresh cries of * water, water ; for 
God's sake, water ! ' More piteous still the mute appeal of some 
who could only feebly lift a hand to say there, too, was life and 
suffering. 

" For an hour and a half did this ministering angel pursue his 
labor of mercy, nor ceased to go and return until he relieved all 
the wounded on that part of the field. He returned to his post 
wholly unhurt. Who shall say how sweet his rest that winter's 
night beneath the cold stars ! 

" Little remains to be told. Sergeant Kirkland distinguished 
himself in battle at Gettysburg, and was promoted lieutenant. 
At Chickamauga he fell on the field of battle, in the hour of 
victory. He was but a youth when called away, and had never 
formed those ties from which might have resulted a posterity 
to enjoy his fame and bless his country; but he has bequeathed 
to the American youth — yea, to the world — an example which 
dignifies our common humanity." 

Want of space compels me to pass by altogether other illus- 
trations of the genuineness of these revivals, and to cull only a 
few of the hundreds of incidents I have, showing how these men 
met " the king of terrors." 

A noble fellow who fell at Gaines's Mill, the 27th of June, 1862, 
said to comrades who offered to bear him to the rear : " No ! I 
die. Tell my parents I die happy. On ! on to victory ! Jesus 
is with me, and will give me all the help I need." 
26 



402 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

John Anderson, of Company C, Thirteenth Virginia Regiment, 
who was mortally wounded at Second Manassas, gave me, when 
I told him that the surgeons said that he could only live an 
hour, many messages to loved ones, which they have cherished 
as a precious legacy, and among others sent this to his father: 
" Tell father that it would be very hard to die here on the road- 
side, away from home and loved ones, but for the fact that I 
have with me the Friend that sticketh closer than a brother, and 
He makes it all peace and joy with me." 

A Georgia captain, who was shot in the mouth and unable to 
speak, wrote in my diary, when I visited him in the field-hospital 
at the Wilderness : " I do not know how it will be with me, 
whether I shall die or recover, but my ful^ trust is in Christ, and 
I am perfectly resigned to God's will. I am ready still to serve 
Him on earth or to * go up higher,' just as He may see fit to 
direct." 

When I asked a soldier named Wayland, who had professed 
conversion in one of our revivals a short time before,, and was 
mortally wounded in " the bloody angle " at Spottsylvania Court 
House : ** Now that you are about to die, what is the ground of 
your hope?" He replied, with a sweet smile: "Jesus says, 
' Him that cometh unto me I wiU' in no wise cast out.' I have 
gone to Him, and I do not think that He will deceive me. I be- 
lieve that He will be true to His word." 

And repeating this over several times, his face brightening into 
something like ecstatic radiance, he went to realize the precious- 
ness of the Saviour's promise. 

Major Augustus M. Gordon, who fell at Chancellorsville, said 
— they were his last words — *' Lay me down now, captain, for I 
am dying. I am not afraid to die, for I know I am going to be 
with Jesus." 

We read, in one of the Georgia papers, of a Georgia soldier 
who, at Chancellorsville, had his left leg shattered from the 
ankle to the knee, but who, hearing that a comrade was wounded, 
said to those who were about to bear him to the rear, '' He is 
worse wounded than I am : carry him off — I can wait here ! " 
Before the ambulance-corps could get back, a minnie-ball had 
passed through his unselfish, generous heart. 

The chaplain of the Ninth Louisiana Regiment (Rev. F. 
McCarthy) relates the following : 

" A young man named Winn, of the Eighth Louisiana, was 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 403 

killed during the shelling on the Rapidan, on the 14th ult, 
whose death was a triumph of grace. He lived an hour after 
receiving his wound, and was borne to a retired place, where he 
died the ' death of the righteous.' Being an orphan, he sent 
noble messages to his sisters, informing them with pride that he 
fell in the front rank. As his end drew near, he said the angels 
in great numbers were collecting about him, ready to take him 
to heaven. His comrades were much affected, and one of them 
at least has, in consequence, given his heart to Jesus. This 
young man professed, religion about two months ago. Likely 
enough he was brought into the fold during Brother J. Wm. 
Jones's meetings at Mt. Pisgah church. I think it worth a life- 
time of hardship to prepare, under God, one of our dear defenders 
thus to die." 

I find Winn's name on the list of converts in that great revival 
in Hays's Brigade, of which I have spoken, and he is but one 
of many who went from those precious seasons to enter upon 
more glorious service in the brighter, better land, " beyond the 
smiling and the weeping." 

A writer who visited our wounded on a field of blood says : 
" As you pass from one to another, washing their wounds and 
administering some cordial or food, you will hear such petitions as 
these : * Will you write to my mother that I trust in Jesus, her 
Jesus ? ' * Oh, sir, can you get one brief message to my wife in 
Virginia ? Tell her to train up the children for heaven.' Here 
is a soldier just breathing his last. You kneel and whisper in 
his ear, ' Jesus, Saviour.' He smiles, and ceases to breathe." 

We find m our exchanges accounts of two soldiers at the point 
of death. With the first the following conversation occurred: 
"Are you willing to die here among strangers?" "Perfectly." 
"Have you a wife? " " Yes." "Are you willing to die without 
seeing her?" " If God wills it, I am." "Have you children, and if 
so, how many ? " " Five." " Can you trust them in the. hands of 
Jesus ? " " Yes. He is all my trust." His countenance was the im- 
personation of resignation and peace. The second said, in answer 
to the inquiry whether he loved the Saviour: "Oh, yes, sir, I 
love Him with all my heart. He is so precious to my soul. I 
know that I am dying, and that I will soon be in heaven, to reign 
with Jesus forever. Oh, how sweet heaven is ! There will be 
no sorrow there. I do want everybody to serve the Lord." 

I have quoted a letter from Captain Abram Poindexter (son 



404 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

of Rev. Dr. A. M. Poindexter, of Virginia) showing his deep 
interest in the salvation of his comrades, and his readiness to 
work for that end. 

Rev. Dr. J. A. Broadus, in a memorial address on Dr. Poin- 
dexter, thus described the heroic death of this young soldier, 
and the influence he exerted on his men : 

" The older son, Abrani Wimbisli Pomdextci', at the age of 
twenty-one, volunteered before his brother's death in an infantry 
company which he materially assisted in raising, and was elected 
first lieutenant. Afterwards, by the death of Captain Easley, he 
became captain ; it was Company K, Forty-sixth Virginia. The 
young man had made a public profession of religion the previous 
year, was a graduate of Wake Forest College, and principal of 
Talladega Academy, in Alabama. As teacher and as officer he 
showed superior talents and great force and charm of character. 
He was exceedingly beloved by his men ; some were converted 
through his recognized instrumentality, and his letters, for 
months previous to his death, showed deep and growing de- 
votion. Obituaries which remain from different friends present 
discriminating and exalted eulogy. What a joy he must have 
been to father and mother and sister ! Before Petersburg, July 
30, 1864, the enemy exploded their now famous mine, and 
poured through the great gap in the works, enfilading with 
deadly fire the thin Confederate lines on either side. Captain 
Poindexter's company was especially exposed, and stood its 
ground amid heavy loss. Every officer but himself was borne 
away severely wounded. Addressing the little remnant of his 
company, the young captain said : ' Boys, we must hold this 
position, or die in our places, for the salvation of the town de- 
pends upon the enemy's not carrying these works.' Presently 
an officer rode by, and seeing the little handful of a company 
standing firm he asked who was their commander. They re- 
plied, pointing to a dead body, ' There's our captain ; he told us 
we must hold these works, or die in their defence, and we mean 
to do it.' And they did. Without an officer, the little fragment 
of a company obeyed their dead captain's commands, and stood 
firm before the enfilading fire and the rush of the foe. The 
story was told to Dr. Poindexter by one of the men. Truly that 
was a captain! truly those were men ! " 

" I am aware," said a Christian soldier, " that I have many 
hardships, trials and dangers to meet; but they will not hurt me, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 405 

if I only do my duty. All these privations and perils tend to 
humble me, and if I can, by their means, more successfully mor- 
tify the deeds of the body — if, by their means, I can uproot 
pride, vanity, covetousness and all their kindred passions — I shall 
have occasion to thank God that duty called me to be a soldier." 

An officer, of high position and of consistent character, re- 
marked to a minister as they were passing through his command, 
"That man," pointing to a noble-looking soldier, " was once the 
worst soldier we had. He is now about the best. A minister 
preached for us on one occasion and his sermon was blessed to 
the conversion of this man. His whole character was revolu- 
tionized; and, though months have since passed away, his life 
has been blameless. From being a disobedient, worthless fellow, 
he has become a gentleman, a gallant soldier, and a true 
Christian." 

Dr. Bennett relates the following incident of the battle of Bethel : 

" Captain John Stewart Walker, of the company known as 
the * Virginia Life Guard,' was ordered by the commanding 
general to take his men from the front, where they were doing 
good service, to the flank to hold in check a heavy force of the 
enemy supposed to be moving in that direction. On reaching 
his new post of danger. Captain Walker drew up his company 
and addressed them in a few stirring words. He reminded 
them that God had mercifully preserved them in the heat of 
battle, and that they were now called to face the enemy in 
greater numbers ; that, as Christians and patriots, they should 
resolve to do their whole dut}^ to their country ; then kneeling 
down, he called upon a minister, who was a private in the ranks, 
to offer prayer. When they arose, nearly every eye was suf- 
fused with tears, and God was felt to be present. During that 
day of battle it is said that three of this company sought and 
obtained the pardon of their sins." 

Rev. Dr. J. C. Cranberry, then chaplain of the Eleventh Virginia 
Regiment, thus speaks of Major Carter Harrison, a brother of 
Captain Dabney Carr Harrison (of whom an extended sketch is 
given in a previous chapter) : " I shall never cease to remember 
with admiration one of the earliest victims of this war. Major 
Carter Harrison, of the Eleventh Virginia. He was an earnest 
servant of Christ; modest, firm, unostentatious, zealous. He 
seized at once the hearts of the regiment by his many virtues, by 
his courtesy to all and his kind visits to the sick, to whom he 



406 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

bore a word not only of sympathy, but also of pious exhortation. 
On the lovely morning of July i8, as we awaited the advance 
of the enemy and the opening of our first battle, our conversation 
was on sacred things. In a few hours he was mortally wounded, 
and until midnight endured untold agony ; but in his soul was 
the peace of God, and all was patiently borne for the sake of God 
and country. He was ready to be offered up, and to leave even 
his loved family, at the call of duty. I had a conversation with 
him ; he spoke of his faith in Providence, and the answers to 
prayer which he daily received. I questioned him concerning 
the state of his mind at the time. He replied that it did not 
rest on any subject, but now thought of a military order, and 
then of a Scriptural promise ; now of his country, and then of 
his family ; and often arose in a holy ejaculation to God. His 
flesh rests in hope ; his spirit rose to God." 

" I recall," says Dr. Granberry, '* an interview with the sweet- 
spirited and gallant Captain James K. Lee, of Richmond, Vir- 
ginia. * How glad I am,' said he, as he gave me a cordial grasp, 

* to shake the hand of a brother in Christ ! ' I referred with 
sympathy to his intense sufferings. With emphasis he answered, 
' Oh, they are nothing to the sufferings which Jesus bore for 
me ! ' In a few days he too was in the bosom of his Father." 

Rev. John W. Miller, whose faithful ministrations many of the 
soldiers will remember, and whose death some years after the 
war was widely lamented, thus wrote of some of his hospital 
work : 

"We have had some to die peacefully and happily. One 
poor fellow who had long been sick with typhoid fever died last 
week. When I questioned him about his preparation for death, 
his "answer was scarcely articulate, but in his thick mutterings I 
could distinp-uish these blessed words of trust in the Saviour, 
'He will not let me peiisli! 

" Upon asking another why he was not afraid to die, he said : 

* Because I am going home to heaven, through Christ' An- 
other, a little while before he died, said : * I love God.' 

*' I find a number of them are members of the Church. Tes- 
taments are greatly coveted, and you can scarcely walk through 
the wards at any time without seeing some of them engaged in 
reading the sacred word. Divine service has been held several 
times for the convalescents — and we frequently assemble them 
for evening prayer." 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 407 

" It was just after a battle, where hundreds of brave men had 
fallen," writes another chaplain, **and where hundreds more 
were wounded, that a soldier came to my tent and said : * Chap- 
lain, one of our boys is badly wounded, and wants to see you 
right away.' Immediately following the soldier, I was taken to 
the hospital and led to a bed, where lay a noble young man, 
pale and blood-stained from a terrible wound above the temple. 
I saw at a glance that he had but a few hours to live. Taking 
his hand, I said : ' Well, my brother, what can I do for you ? 
He looked up in my face, and placing his finger where his hair 
was stained with blood, he said : ' Chaplain, cut a big lock from 
here for mother — for mother, mind, chaplain.' I hesitated to do 
it. * Don't be afraid, chaplain, to disfigure my hair. It's for 
mother, and nobody will come to see me in the dead-house to- 
morrow.' I did as he requested me. ' Now, chaplain,' said the 
dying man, * I want you to kneel down by me and return thanks 
to God.' * For what ? ' I asked. ' For giving me such a 
mother. Oh, chaplain, she is a good mother; her teachings 
comfort and console me now. And, chaplain, thank God that 
by His grace I am a Christian. Oh, what would I do now if I 
was not a Christian ! I know that my Redeemer liveth. I feel 
that His finished work has saved me. And, chaplain, thank 
God for giving me dying grace. He has made my bed feel 
** soft as downy pillows are." Thank him for the promised home 
in glory. I'll soon be there — there, where there is no more war, 
nor sorrow, nor desolation, nor death — where I'll see Jesus and 
be forever with the Lord.' I kneeled by him, and thanked God 
for the blessings he had bestowed upon him — a good mother, a 
Christian hope, and dying grace to bear testimony to God's 
faithfulness. Shortly after the prayer, he said : ' Good-bye, 
chaplain ; if you see mother, tell her it was all well.' 

"A young soldier, while dying very happily, broke out in 
singing the following stanza : 

" * Great Jehovah, we adore thee, 
God the Father, God the Son, 
God the Spirit, joined in glory 
On the same eternal throne : 

Endless praises 
To Jehovah, three in one.' 

" The chaplain then asked if he had any message to send to 
his friends. 'Yes,' said he. ' Tell my father that I have tried to 



408 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

eat my meals with thanksgiving.' * Tell him that I have tried to 
pray as we used to do at home.' ' Tell him that Christ is now 
all my hope, all my trust, and that He is precious to my soul.' 
' Tell him that I am not afraid to die — all is calm.' ' Tell him 
that I believe Christ will take me to Himself, and to my dear sis- 
ter who is in heaven.' The voice of the dying boy faltered in 
the intervals between these precious sentences. When the 
hymn commencing, ' Nearer, my God, to thee,' was read to him, 
at the end of each stanza he exclaimed, with striking energy, 
* O Lord Jesus, thou art coming nearer to me! Also, at the 
end of each stanza of the hymn (which was also read to him) 
commencing, 

* Just as I am — without one plea, 
But that thy blood was shed for me, 
And that thou bid'st me come to thee, 
O Lamb of God, I come,' 

he exclaimed, 'I come f Lamb of God, I come!' Speaking 
again of his friends, he said, ' Tell my father that I died happy! 
His last words were, * Father, I'm coming to Thee ! ' Then the 
Christian soldier sweetly and calmly * fell asleep in Jesus.' 

'' This was witnessed by about twenty fellow-soldiers, and the 
effect upon the feelings of all was very marked. Said a Roman 
Catholic who lay near the dying one, with tears in his eyes, and 
strong emotion, ' I never want to die happier than that man did.' 
Said another, * I never prayed until last night ; but when I saw 
that man die so happy, I determined to seek religion too.' " 

Rev, J. W. Talley, of Georgia, thus describes the death of his 
son at Leesburg, from wounds received at Sharpsburg (Antie- 
tam) : 

" My son, after he had lain in a storehouse from Monday to 
Tuesday evening on a blanket and a handful of straw, was fur- 
nished by a kind lady with a straw mattress, on which he is now 
dying. May God remember her in mercy ' in that day.' 

" The night of the 29th was a night of pain, anxiety, deep, 
unutterable emotion. We sat or kneeled by his couch, and 
poured out our souls in prayer for the sufferer. He wanted me 
to pray for him, and, almost suffocated with emotion, silent 
prayer yielded to sobs and prayers. At the close, I asked him 
if he loved Jesus. He answered, ' Yes.' I asked him if he was 
going to heaven; he said: *I hope so;' and wanted us all to 
meet him in heaven. He then threw his arms around his 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 409 

mother's neck, and returned her fond embrace and kisses, sent 
by her a kiss to each of his sisters, and one by me to his brother 
WiUie, now in General Bragg's army. The struggle lasted un- 
til Tuesday, September 30, at 2 o'clock p. m., when the tranquil, 
happy spirit was released from its clay prison. The casket was 
broken and the jewel was gone." 

Dr. Bennett thus describes scenes which occurred at Second 
Manassas, and at Sharpsburg : 

" * Give my love to parents and friends,' said a young soldier, 
dying of his wounds ; ' tell them all is well ; I am not afraid to 
die, for I know they are praying for me.' Another, the son of a 
faithful clergyman, fell mortally wounded by a shell. A friend 
near by gave him water, for which he thanked him, saying, * I 
am a dying patriot,' and then added, ' Tell my father I died like 
a man and a hero.' A brave young Christian, when told by the 
surgeon that he could not live, sent home his last message : 
* Tell my relations, father and mother, sisters and brothers, that 
I trust I am prepared to meet my God. Farewell, one and all, 
I bid you a long farewell ; I hope to meet you all in heaven.' 
Another gallant soldier, who was killed as the line of battle was 
being formed, left a pleasing testimony. Just before leaving to 
join the army, he wrote : ' I wish only to know my duty ; it 
then remains for me to perform it. It was a great trial to part 
with my family; I seemed to realize that the parting was final ; 
but my country calls, and I cheerfully go forward to death.' It 
was soon after that he went from the carnage of battle to the 
peaceful home of the blessed." 

J. W. Mills, chaplain of a Florida regiment, gives a graphic 
picture of the havoc of war : 

" Many of our regiment fell in the terrible battle of Sharps- 
burg. We occupied the centre, where the enemy made his 
fiercest attack, hoping to break our lines in that vital part of the 
field, and so win the day. The enemy were formed in a semi- 
circle on the side of a hill. Our brave men marched up to the 
attack until they could see the heads and shoulders of their ad- 
versaries over the summit of the hill, when firing commenced. 
From the two wings and the centre of this semicircle they 
poured upon us a murderous fire for about one hour. Five 
times our colors fell, but as often our men rushed to the spot 
and raised them to the breeze. Finally, a retreat was ordered — 
at that moment the colors fell and were left. The enemy had 



410 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

suffered too much, notwithstanding his advantages, to pursue, 
and our gallant lieutenant-colonel, already wounded in the arm, 
went back and brought them away under a shower of bullets. 

'* In the midst of this carnage many a heart turned to the God 
of battles for refuge and comfort." Mr. Mills again writes : 

^*A young man said to me after the battle : * When I was 
going into the battle, I put my trust in God, and He has brought 
me through untouched, and I am grateful to Him.' And the 
tears stood in his eyes as he spoke. He was an unconverted 
man when he went into the fight. Last night at preaching, 
while referring to the. incidents of the battle and how God had 
preserved them, many tears fell, and many countenances spoke 
louder than words undying gratitude to the God of all grace. 

" The instances of calm Christian courage exhibited on the 
field of Sharpsburg have never been surpassed. Here, with 
thousands of other heroes, Captain James G. Rogers, of Macon, 
Georgia, offered his life on the altar of his country. He was a 
worthy citizen and a most useful Christian. As a minister and a 
Sabbath-school superintendent, he exerted a happy influence 
wherever he labored to do good. He entered the service a cap- 
tain of the Central City Blues, of the renowned Twelfth Georgia, 
and endured cheerfully all the hardships of the soldier's life. 
He passed unharmed through seventeen desperate battles, and 
fell gloriously on this bloody field. Wearied and almost worn 
out by the investment of Harper's Ferry and the march to the 
battle-field, his men lay on their arms awaiting the attack which 
was to be made at dawn of day. The assault was terrible, and 
for an hour Captain Rogers, in command of the regiment, passed 
up and down the line encouraging his men. While thus ex- 
posed, all the fingers of his left hand were shot off, and he was 
severely wounded in the thigh, but he remained with his men 
until forced to leave by sheer exhaustion. As he was moving 
off, supported by some of his men, a bullet struck him in the 
back of the head, killing him instantly. ' Thus fell,' says the 
friend from whom we take this account, * one of the purest, 
bravest men of our immortalized Confederate army.' When he 
bade adieu to his family, he said : ' If we meet no more on earth, 
let us meet in heaven.' In his letters home he often said : ' I 
never go into battle without feeling prepared to meet my God.' 
On the morning of his last battle he arranged for the disposal of 
his effects as if he fully expected to fall. ' Blessed are the dead 
who die in the Lord.' 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 411 

'* On the same field fell Major James Harvey Dingle, of South 
Carolina. He was a true Christian soldier. His colonel said of 
him : * He was one of the bravest men I ever saw. He did not 
know what fear was. He was killed near me, and I took the 
flag from his hand as he was dying ; he died without a groan, 
and looked as if he was sleeping. He was blessed by the men 
and officers, and was a kind, courteous, efficient and accom- 
plished officer; his loss to the Legion (Hampton) is great. His 
name will be cherished by the sons of Carolina so long as the 
good, patriotic and brave are appreciated.' 

" Such cases were not isolated ones in the Southern armies ; 
there were hundreds, yea, thousands, of such earnest, faithful, 
godly men, who endured hardships, poured out their blood, and 
died in peace amid the rage and carnage of the battle. The dy- 
ing words of our Christian soldiers, their messages of love, 
whispered, amid the roar of cannon and the rattle of musketry, 
in the ear of some comrade who bent over them and gave a 
cooling draught from his canteen, would fill volumes if they 
could be collected. It is only by fragments, however, that we 
can gather up their precious sentences that sparkle with a 
heavenly light in the m.idst of the gloomy horrors of war. 
Many of the best and purest were left scattered over the wide, 
blood-soaked fields, and languished and died away from home 
and friends in hospitals and prisons ; and not until the coming of 
their comrades who survived and returned home did their 
friends and families receive the sweet messages of love that were 
laid like healing balm on their bleeding hearts. 

*' Never were stronger proofs given of the sustaining and com- 
forting power of religion than during this terrible war, which 
stripped our homes of loved ones, our land of plenty, our hearts 
of joy, and left us nothing to fall back upon in our sufferings and 
humiliation but the promises of God, who poured out His Spirit 
so richly upon our soldiers in all the hardships of the march and 
in all the unutterable anguish that followed our great battles." 

Rev. Wm. M. Crumley, of Georgia, whose labors in connec- 
tion with the " Georgia Relief Association " were so widely use- 
ful and so warmly appreciated, published during the war a tract, 
entitled, ''A Soldier's Bible',' of which I circulated in the camps a 
great many copies. I am glad to be able to reproduce it here, 
as I find it preserved in Dr. Bennett's '* Great Revival." It is as 
follows : 



412 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

"Among the multiplicity of knapsacks, haversacks, bundles, 
and old clothes, stored in one of the baggage-rooms of a hospital 
in Richmond, I found a Soldier's Bible. It was a neat London 
edition, with a silver clasp, on which were engraven the initials 
A. L. C. On the fly-leaf was written, in a neat and delicate hand, 
*A present to my dear son on his fifteenth birthday, from his 
mother, M. A. C Below was written, in the same hand, ' Search 
the Scriptures ; for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and 
they are they which testify of me.' ' Remember now thy Creator 
in the days of thy youth.' ' If sinners entice thee, consent thou 
not' 

" The book had the appearance of having been carefully read, 
there being many chapters and verses marked with pencil, as 
though they had strongly impressed themselves on the mind of 
the young reader. Among them were the chapters which de- 
scribe the heroic daring of the youthful David, the saintly purity 
of Joseph, and the unflinching fidelity of the three captive boys 
at the court of Babylon. The First, Twenty-third and Fifty-first 
Psalms bore marks of an interested reader. In the New Testament, 
such Scriptures as speak of the love of God to sinners were carefully 
noted : ' God so loved the world that he gave His only-begotten 
Son, that whosoevcrh^X\^Y^\h in Him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life.' — John iii. i6. 'Though your sins be as scarlet, 
they shall be as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, 
they shall be as wool.' — Isaiah i. i8. At this remarkably en- 
couraging promise was a large blood-stain, as though gory 
fingers had been tracing out every word ; also at John xiv. I, 2 — 
* Let not your heart be troubled : ye believe in God, believe 
also in me.' ' In my Father's house are many mansions ' — were 
the same stains of still broader and deeper dye. 

"Albert was the only son of a pious and wealthy planter of 
the South. Most of his time during his childhood was spent in 
the country on his father's plantation. The little white cottage 
was half-buried in evergreens, and richly festooned with fragrant 
vines, among which the wild birds nestled, and sang with their 
sweetest melody. On the hill, at the end of a long avenue, stood 
the quiet country church, where little Albert, accompanied by 
his parents, sister and aged grandmother, met the families of the 
neighborhood to spend an hour in Sabbath-school, and then 
listen to the reverend man of God, who preached to them the 
precious word of the Lord. Here, and around the family altar, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 413 

Albert received that moral training which laid a deep and broad 
foundation for a character, in many respects, worthy of the imi- 
tation of all who may read this simple narrative. 

" In the Sabbath-school Albert first formed the acquaintance 
of little Jennie, neatly dressed in a white muslin with a blue 
sash, who afterwards became the beautiful and accomplished 
Miss S , whose daguerrotype we found in the soldier's coat- 
pocket. She was the intimate friend of his sister Hattie, and 
often his successful competitor for prizes offered by the superin- 
tendent of the Sabbath-school. 

" In the year 1856 Albert was sent to college to complete his 
education, and Jennie went to a ladies' college of high grade to 
complete her studies. 

"A few notes that ran the college blockade, and vacation 
meetings, sufficed to keep up their acquaintance and friendship. 
In the summer of i860 they both graduated with honors highly 
creditable to them and gratifying to their friends. On their re- 
turn home, early attachments ripened into something more than 
friendship ; but scarcely had the bright vision of hope dawned 
when it was overcast by the dark cloud of war that suddenly 
rose upon our horizon. The country called the brave young 
men from every quarter to rally in Southern prowess, and with 
battle-shock roll back the invading foe. Albert was one of the 
first to respond. He took his place in the ranks as a common 
soldier, feeling it was honor enough to be a private, defending 
his country, his home, and his beloved Jennie ; and all the more, 
as he had her approving smile to encourage him. 

"Albert's departure and transfer to Virginia by rail are scenes 
so common to soldiers that they can be imagined or remembered 
far better than I could describe them. 

" There is one incident, however, which I will mention. Just 
before he took leave, they were all called around the old family 
altar. Jennie was there. Maum Patty, the nurse of his child- 
hood, was there, with snow-white kerchief about her ebon brow 
and silver locks. Many were the bitter sobs, while the deep, 
earnest voice of the father in solemn prayer, like the patriarch 
Abraham, bound his son, his only son, a sacrifice on his coun- 
try's altar. When the amen was pronounced, there was in every 
heart a feeling too deep for utterance. In this moment of silence, 
a mother's hand placed the Soldier's Bible in a pocket near his 
heart. Albert moved slowly down the avenue, the embodiment 



414 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

of youthful chivalry and manly beauty. The spectators stood 
like breathless statues, fearing most of all that they should see 
his face no more. Just as he turned the corner at the end of 
the avenue, he cast one glance back to the scenes of his child- 
hood, which never seemed half so dear. 

"After a long and uncomfortable transit by rail and forced 
marches, with weary limbs and blistered feet, he was thrown into 
the battle of Manassas, on the 2ist of July, 1861, with scarcely 
time to kneel by an apple-tree in battle-line, over which the 
shells were howling furiously. Here in prayer he hastily com- 
mitted his soul and body to his faithful Keeper, then rose calm 
and serene, with an assurance that no weapon of the enemy 
would harm him. 

" When the battle was over and victory perched upon our 
banner, Albert found himself surrounded with the dead and dy- 
ing, among whom were some of his particular friends. He was 
strongly and strangely exercised with a mingled feeling of joy 
and grief, a sort of hysteric paroxysm of laughing and crying, 
weeping for the slain, and rejoicing that he had escaped un- 
harmed, with a deep consciousness that God had been his shield 
and hiding-place in the hour of danger. Albert endured all the 
sufferings of fatigue, cold and hunger incident to a winter cam- 
paign ; none murmured less, none were more faithful in the dis- 
charge of duty than he. The demoralizing effects of the camp, 
with almost the entire absence of religious privileges, produced 
a coldness in his state ; and although he did not compromise his 
moral character by profanity, gambling and drunkenness, as 
many others did, yet he failed to enjoy the close communion 
and clear sense of the Divine presence which he had done in 
former days. In this state of mind, he entered upon the seven 
days' battles before Richmond. The solemnities of the occasion 
aroused him to a sense of his danger, causing him to cleave more 
closely to his Bible and its precious promises. With his hand 
on this blessed book pressed to his heart, he called on God to 
be his shield and support in the hour of battle. He passed the 
terrible ordeal of Gaines's Mill on Friday and Malvern Hill on 
Tuesday, where the men fell around him like grain before the 
reapers and covered the ground thick as autumn leaves. A de- 
gree of joy and gratitude swelled his heart as he surveyed the 
field of death, in view of his own wonderful escape, but not so 
deep and warm as on a former occasion, when his faith and piety 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 415 

were more earnest and simple. Albert continued at times to 
read his Bible, but it was evidently more as a task than a pleasant 
duty ; his keen relish for Divine things had abated very much ; 
the excuses of camp-life, long marches, and the general indiffer- 
ence of officers and men upon the subject of religion, offered his 
conscience the consolation of a temporary opiate. Sometimes, 
however, on the reception of letters from home, and sometimes, 
when alone on his midnight round of picket-duty, he would shed 
a penitential tear and resolve to double his diligence and regain 
his lost ground as a Christian ; but a plant so tender and unpro- 
tected by the pale of the Church, unwatered by the dews of the 
sanctuary, persecuted and scathed by the lightnings of contempt, 
nipped and browsed upon by every wild beast of the forest, 
necessarily became greatly dwarfed in life and growth ; a feeling 
of self-security, a trust in fate or chance, impressed him fnore 
than a simple faith in the ever-present God. In this spiritually de- 
moralized condition he entered the Sharpsburg fight, without even 
asking God to protect him and save him from danger and death. 
Soon after the battle opened he was struck by a ball and carried 
back to the rear a wounded man ; from profuse hemorrhage, a sick, 
dreamy sensation stole over him ; the light faded from his eyes, 
while a thousand mingled sounds filled his ears, and a faint 
vision of home, friends, green turf, battle-fields and graveyards 
flitted by like phantoms of the night. With returning conscious- 
ness, there came a sense of shame and sorrow for having declined 
in his religious state, and a conviction that his wound was the 
chastening of the Lord to rebuke his wanderings and check his 
self-reliance. 

"As soon as he was sufficiently restored, he drew from his 
pocket his neglected Bible, kissing it many times over and bath- 
ing it in tears as truly penitential as Peter's when he wept at the 
feet of Jesus. His bloody fingers searched out the old-cherished 
promises of God, leaving many a gory stain on the blessed pages 
of inspiration. The law of the Lord again became his meat and 
drink, on which he feasted by day and by night ; a new life was 
infused into his soul, which enabled him to bear his sufferings 
with true Christian heroism. 

" In this condition I found him in the old Academy Hospital 
in Winchester, lying on the dirty floor, with a blanket for his bed 
and a wisp of straw to pillow up his wounded limb. While sitting 
by his side, trying to minister to his soul and body_, I received 



416 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

from him this narrative, substantially as I have given it to you. 
After much severe suffering, when our army fell back, he was 
sent to Staunton and thence to Richmond, where I again met 
him just in time to witness his last triumphant conflict with suf- 
fering and death. He was in a hospital, reclining on a clean, 
comfortable bed, his head resting on a soft, white pillow, on 
which the familiar name of a distinguished lady of Georgia was 
marked — she having contributed it from her own bed for the 
benefit of the suffering soldiers. Near him sat the matron of the 
hospital, rendering every possible comfort that the sympathy of 
a woman could suggest, intensely sharpened by the recent loss 
of a promising son, who fell in a late battle. Reduced by a 
secondary hemorrhage and amputation, Albert, with a calm, 
steady faith, came down to the cold waters of Jordan, where he 
lingered for a short time and dictated a letter to his mother, 
which I wrote for him, in which he gave an appropriate word to 
each one of the family, not even forgetting Maum Patty, his old 
nurse, and reserving a postscript, the last and best, for Jennie. 
I would like very much to give my readers a copy of this letter, 
but it is the exclusive treasure of the bereaved and afflicted ones, 
whose grief is too sacred for the intermeddling of any save the 
most intimate friends. 

"After pausing a kw moments at the close of the letter, he 
seemed self-absorbed, and soliloquized thus : ' I die for my 
country and the cause of humanity, and, with many others, have 
thrown my bleeding body into the horrid chasm of revolution to 
bridge the way for the triumphal car of Liberty which will roll 
over me, bearing in its long train the happy millions of future 
generations, rejoicing in all the grandeur of peace and prosperity. 
I wonder if they will ever pause as they pass to think of the poor 
soldiers whose bones lie at the foundation of their security and 
happiness? Or will the soul be permitted from some Pisgah 
summit to take a look at the future glory of the country I died 
to reclaim from fanatical thraldom ? Will the soul ever visit at 
evening twilight the scenes of my childhood, and listen to the 
sweet hymn of praise that goes up from the paternal altar at 
which I was consecrated to God ? Though unseen, may it not 
be the guardian angel of my loved ones ? ' Checking himself, 
he said : ' These are earthly desires, which I feel gradually giv- 
ing way to a purer, heavenly sympathy.' Then, in a low, 
sweet voice, he repeated : 



OR, kELIGION IN LEE's ARMV. 4l7 

" * Give joy or grief, give ease or pain, 
Take life or friends away, 
I come to find them all again 
In that eternal day.' 

" He repeated the last line with an emphasis that threw a 
beauty and force into it which I never saw or felt before. See- 
ing that he was communing with his owii soul, and that spirit- 
ual things in the opening light of eternity were rising in bold 
relief before his vision of faith, I withdrew a short space from 
him, feeling it was holy ground, ' where the good man meets his 
fate, quite on the verge of heaven.' He then gently laid his hand 
on his Bible and the daguerrotype that lay near his side, and 
amid this profound stillness, surrounded by a halo of more than 
earthly glory, gently as the evening shadows the curtain dropped, 
leaving nothing visible to us but the cold and lifeless clay, on 
which a sweet smile rested, as though it had seen the happy 
soul enter the pearly gates of the New Jerusalem. Thus, far 
from home and friends, this noble youth fell asleep in Jesus, 
swelling the long list of the honored dead ; but, ' though dead, 
he yet speaketh.' The precious treasure, 'Tlie Soldier's Bible,' 
has been returned to the family, and is now one of those valued 
relics that bind many sad hearts with links of gold to bygone 
days." 

T. S. Chandler, of the Sixth South Carolina Regiment, said, 
when he realized that he was dying : " Tell my mother that I am 
lying without hope of recovery. I have stood before the enemy 
fighting in a great and glorious cause and have fallen. My hope 
is in Christ, for whose sake I hope to be saved. Tell her that she 
and my brother cannot see me again on earth, but they can meet 
me in heaven." A little before bedtime of his last night he 
called to his surgeon and said : " Write to mother, and tell her 
she must meet me in heaven. I know I am going there." 

When Captain John F. Vinson, of Crawford county, Georgia, 
came to die, he exclaimed : "All is well — my way is clear — not 
a cloud intervenes." As Lieutenant Ezekiel Pickens Miller, of 
the Seventeenth Mississippi Regiment, fell mortally wounded on 
the field of Fredericksburg, he exclaimed : " Tell my father and 
mother not to grieve for me, for I am going to a better world 
than this." 

** Can I do anything for you ? " said the missionary, kneeling 
by the side of a private shot through the neck. " Yes, write to 
27 



418 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

my poor wife." " What shall I write ? " " Say to my dear wife, 
it's all right." This was written. "What else shall I write?" 
" Nothing else, all's right" — and thus he died. He was a con- 
vert of the camp. 

" Passing through a large stable where the wounded lay," says 
Mr. Redding, " I noticed a man whose head was frosted with 
age. After giving him wine and food, I said, * My friend, you 
are an old man. Do you enjoy the comforts of religion ? ' * Oh, 
yes ! ' he exclaimed, ' I have been a member of the Church for 
twenty-five years. Often in our little church at home our min- 
ister told us that religion was good under all circumstances, and 
now I have found it true ; for even here in this old stable, with 
m.y leg amputated, and surrounded by the dead and dying, I am 
just as happy as I can be. It is good even here. I want you to tell 
the people so when you preach to them.' 1 left him rejoicing." 

*' Said a poor fellow, who was suffering greatly from two 
painful wounds : ' When I was at home, I was wild and wicked, 
but since I have been in the army I have tried to change my 
life, and since I have been wounded I have been able to trust 
my soul in the hands of God, and I feel that if He should call 
me to die, all will be well.' He spoke with deep feeling, and 
the big tears filled his eyes and rolled down his pale face. 
Another from Georgia, who was dying of his wounds far away 
from home and friends gave a like testimony, and, with tears of 
joy, praised God in full hope of heaven. Whether dying in 
hospital or on the battle-field, the testimony of the Christian 
soldier was the same." " Francis M. Bobo, of Spartansburg, 
South Carolina, exclaimed when dying : ' I would not take ten thou- 
sand worlds for my prospect of heaven ! ' * If I die in the hospital 
or fall in battle,' said a young Georgia soldier, * weep not for me — 
all will be well' These are a few testimonies out of hundreds 
that might be recorded. They show the deep and joyous piety 
of thousands of the Southern soldiery." 

I quote again from the same source from which I have drawn 
so many incidents : 

*' The experiences of soldiers are so full of childlike simplicity 
that one never tires of reading them. 

"A soldier converted on the march was met by his chaplain. 
who knew that he was under conviction, and asked by him if he 
had given himself to Christ: 

" * Yes,' said the stalwart warrior, with a glowing countenance, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 419 

' I have found Him. Why, sir, when we set off on that march I 
felt such a weight upon my soul that I could scarcely drag my- 
self along, but after a while God heard my prayers, and then the 
burden was gone and I felt as if marching was no trouble at all.' 

" Good men that work for God faithfully die well even in war, 
on the field or in the hospital. Captain Thomas O. Byrd, of the 
Fourth Mississippi Regiment, was a zealous Christian among his 
comrades. He says, writing to his friends at home : 

" ' I have prayers in my tent every night with the boys, and 
assist others to take up the Cross. I have just had prayers with 
some wild young men, who are now engaged in singing with 
much zest and feeling. Oh, what a field is open here ! Fare is 
rough, but gladly would I live thus for life for Christ's sake and 
the good of man. I have gained a great victory to-day. I be- 
lieve God will bless this work. I feel His love burn in my heart 
while I write. I know God will bless my labors if you and 
Sister and the children will pray for me.' 

"Again : ' I find I lack courage to speak out for the cause of 
our holy religion more than ever, and you know full well that I 
have always been more or less lacking in this particular; yet I 
trust through faith and prayer to come out safe at last, though it 
may be as through fire.' 

" He sickened and died in the army. A kind lady approached 
him as he was nearing the verge of eternity. Said he : 

" ' God bless you, Sister ; this is the way Jesus went ' — meaning 
perhaps alone, among enemies. * Tell my wife farewell — all is 
right — to meet me in heaven.' 

"Another Christian, dying in the hospital, wrote to his wife: 

" * I don't want you to be uneasy about me, but do not forget 
to pray for me. I still have strong confidence in the Lord, and 
endeavor to put my trust in Him in all cases. I hope the Lord 
may take care of you ; and if we should not meet again on earth, 
may we meet in heaven, where wars and sorrows are forever 
gone. God helping, we'll meet you there.' 

"The death of Colonel Peyton H. Colquitt was that of a 
true Christian hero. He had served at Norfolk, Virginia, and as 
colonel of the Forty-sixth Georgia at Charleston and in Missis- 
sippi. On the field of Chickamauga he was in command of a 
brigade. It was ordered to charge a battery ; and while riding 
up and down the line in front of his men, speaking to them words 
of encouragement, he was struck in the breast by a ball and fell 
from his horse. 



420 

" Ilis friend, Hon. W. F. Sanford, wrote a touching memorial 
of the gallant soldier, from which we extract the following ac- 
count of his last moments : 

" ' He was carried to a shade, and there the chaplain of his 
regiment. Rev. Thomas Stanley, attended him. I give the ac- 
count of the closing scene in his words : ** When I found the 
colonel he thought his wound was mortal, and though he had 
not recovered from the shock he seemed calm and collected. I 
talked with him very freely on the subject of religion. He con- 
stantly expressed a spirit of resignation to the Providence of 
God, and that he had no apprehensions whatever in regard to 
the future ; that he had tried to do his duty, and felt in the last 
hour that he was accepted of his Saviour. In this hour his faith 
never wavered — he said he was * going to the land of light and 
peace, where he should meet his many loved ones who had gone 
before ; ' and again : ' Tell my dear wife I go to meet our angel 
child, and to come to us.' At one time he said : ' The Provi- 
dence of God is inscrutable, but I submit in hope.' He died 
without a struggle. It is comfortable to know that all his wants 
were supplied during his sufferings. He experienced no pain, 
and was conscious to -the last moment. As soon as he was 
wounded General Forrest sent his surgeon to him ; the poor 
people, who had been bereft of all their worldly substance, went 
to see him from miles around." ' 

" The following touching scene is desQj-ibed by Rev. J. A. 
Parker, who labored as an army chaplain. He was conveying 
a number of wounded soldiers by water to the hospitals at 
Mobile : 

'"At two o'clock in the morning we started in a skiff for the 
city. The wind was high and the water rough. Poor wounded 
men, how they suffered the pangs of thirst, with no water save 
that from the bay ! A young soldier, whom I had promised to 
convey to the city, lay senseless the most of the morning. 
About midday he roused up and asked: "How far?" "In 
sight of the city," said I. After lying quiet awhile, he asked 
why it was so dark. I told him it was not dark — that it was 
light and I could see the city, and that we would soon relieve 
him of the rough sailing and make him comfortable. I then left 
him and went to the other end of the boat to use an oar, for we 
were drifting. He soon asked for the preacher, and I returned 
to him. He called for water, which I dipped in a tin-cup from 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 421 

the bay and gave him. After drinking he asked to be sheltered 
from the sun. This we could not do, but we encouraged him by 
our approach to the city. " Yes," he replied, " shut my eyes 
and let me go to the city. I am going home — almost there." 
He closed his eyes and died.' 

"A writer in the Christian Sun gives a touching scene in which 
a Christian soldier met his death : 

" ' On the lines near Petersburg, Virginia, on a beautiful morn- 
ing in the last days of summer, a young soldier, connected with 
a Georgia regiment, might have been seen seated in a ravine, 
and at the mouth of a bomb-proof which had been made in the 
side of the hill, reading carefully the word of God. This young 
man had come to be regarded the model man of the regiment 
for morality and devout piety. He entered the army at the com- 
mencement of the war a Christian, and maintained his reputa- 
tion untarnished through all the immoralities of camp-life, daily 
becoming more devout and more Christ-like in his spirit and 
conversation. He was, in person, well formed, yet not very 
robust ; his hair rather dark, and his eyes a deep blue, with a 
very light beard. In manners he was as gentle as a woman, yet 
his comrades assured me that in battle he was as bold as a lion 
and as brave as the bravest. The Bible from which he was 
re-ading on the morning referred to was the gift of a pious mother 
on entering the service. He had carefully preserved it through 
all the weary marches and hard-fought battles in which his regi- 
ment had participated, and a mother's prayers had followed with 
it wherever he went. While intently reading, and so absorbed 
as not even to hear for the moment the bursting mortar-shells 
around him, a comrade came running to tell him that a special 
friend of his own company had been killed in the trenches by 
the bursting of a shell among them. He closed his Bible and, 
clenching it in his hand, ran to the place where his friend lay 
dead. Just as he arrived at the spot and his eyes rested on the 
mangled form, a parrot-shell came whizzing, and, exploding in 
the immediate vicinity, he was struck on the head and instantly 
killed. He fell on the body of his lifeless comrade, still clasping 
his Bible, even in death holding on to the Word of Life.' 

" Lieutenant J. P. Duncan fell at his post near Petersburg, 
Virginia. ' His last noble act was to distribute a package of 
tracts to his men on the subject of heaven. He stepped on a log 
in rear of his guns to look at the enemy's movements and was 



422 ' CHRIST 

instantly killed.' William Smith Patterson, of the Palmetto 
Sharpshooters, was a noble soldier of Christ and of his country. 
Colonel Walker, his commander, wrote to his mother : 

" 'Your son was a gallant young man, and fell bravely doing 
his duty in the foremost ranks while engaging the enemy. He 
was never found lacking in his duty either as a soldier or Chris- 
tian. He was shot through the body and died almost instantly.' 

" * When I told her,' says Dr. Whiteford Smith, * the sad tid- 
ings, her first words were : '* Glory ! glory ! glory ! The Lord 
gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of 
the Lord. I know he is safe, and I would not have him back if 
I could by asking." ' 

*' Such were the mothers whose sons upheld the banner of the 
South. 

" Sergeant Alfred L. Robertson, of the Twelfth Georgia Regi- 
ment, fell in one of the battles in the Valley of Virginia. He 
was a Christian from childhood. ' He told me,' says a friend, 
' as he lay dying upon the battle-field, that he knew his time had 
come and he was willing to go, feeling that all was bright, desir- 
ing only something to alleviate his suffering until his spirit should 
wing its way to the realms of the blessed.' 

*' Captain Henry F. Parks and Captain Wesley F. Parks were 
sons of Rev. W. J. Parks, of Georgia. The former was converted 
at eight years, the latter at thirteen ; both entered the Confederate 
army and fought gallantfy. Wesley died of disease — Henry by 
the bullet. 

" ' When he was stricken down upon the battle-field he begged 
his comrades to leave him and to take care of themselves, for he 
felt sure that he had received his "last furlough." Said he: 
** Tell my father and friends that I died praying." ' They were 
buried on the same day. 

"Andrew J. Peed, of the Fifty-ninth Georgia, received four 
wounds in a charge ; he lived five hours and then fell asleep in 
Jesus. Just before his death he said : * Farewell, boys ; ' and 
he requested a fellow-soldier to tell his wife that he was ready to 
die, and happily ended earth's toilsome journey. 

" The Rev. Thomas A. Ware, of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, who labored with untiring zeal as a chaplain in 
the Army of Northern Virginia, gives a vivid picture of a scene 
after a day of blood. In the midst of the surgeon's work, as he 
spoke to the sufferers stretched upon the ground, his ear caught 
the soft murmur of prayer. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 423 

" * I turned,' he says, ' to catch the words. I saw one form 
bent over another, prostrate on the grass, until the hps of the 
suppHant nearly touched the pale face of the sufferer. " Oh, 
precious Redeemer ! " he said, " we thank Thee for Thy abound- 
ing grace, which of late brought him from the ways of folly and 
sin to know and love Thee, and that now makes this dark hour 
the brightest of his life. Be Thou graciously with him to the 
end. Mercifully pour into the hearts of his dear ones at home 
the balm of Thy love and, sweetly resigning them to Thy will, 
bring them all at last to meet him in heaven." The prayer was 
ended. "Amen," murmured the faded lips. The chaplain recog- 
nized me and gave me an introduction to the dying man. " I 
trust you are a Christian, my friend," said I, ** and that even 
now you are resigned and happy." " Oh, yes," he said, " I en- 
tered the army a wicked man, but I must tell you now of the 
influence of a good sister. Will you please unroll my knapsack, 
.sir, and get me a letter lying on my clothes ? I wish you to 
read it to me. I have often read it, but you will be so kind as 
to read it to me now." I obeyed. The touching appeal for 
patriotism and piety, especially the entreaties for the latter, 
couched in all the tender sentiments of a sister's love, evoked 
frequent ejaculations of prayer that "God would reward and 
bless her forever." " Oh,^ sir," he said, " her precious letters 
have proven my salvation. Thank God for such a sister." Soon 
after the manly form lay cold and stiff on the ground,. and the 
spirit, leaving the impress of its rapture on the upturned face, 
went with the angels to heaven to await the coming of its best 
beloved.' 

" Not only the veterans, but the boys, died in faith and glorious 
hope. 

" * As I walked over a battle-field,' says a writer, * I found an 
interesting boy, who was rolled in his blanket and resting his 
head against a stump. He had been fearfully wounded through 
the lungs ; his breath came painfully, and his broken arm hung 
helplessly at his side. His lips were pallid from loss of blood, 
and it seemed as though such pain and exhaustion would quickly 
wear his life away. I said : 

" ' " My dear boy, you are severely wounded." 

" ' " Yes ; I am going to die." 

" ' " Would'nt you like to have me write to your mother ? " 

" ' " O, yes ! do," he eagerly said ; " you will write to her. 



424 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

wont you ? Tell my mother I have read my Testament and 
put all my trust in the Lord. Tell her to meet me in heaven, 
and my brother Charlie, too. I am not afraid to die." 

" * And then, exhausted by the effort, the head fell back and 
the eyes closed again. Several soldiers had gathered about, 
attracted by the patient heroism of the boy ; and that sermon 
from those white lips was a swift witness to them of the power 
of the religion of Jesus. Strong men turned away to hide their 
tears as they saw that young soul strengthened and cheered in 
its agony by the hopes of the Gospel. It was not hard to assure 
him of Christ's love and remembrance, and lead him still closer 
to the Cross. At length the eyes opened again : 

** * *' Tell my mother that I was brave ; that I never flinched a 
bit." ' " 

I have before quoted from the admirable book of Dr. John L. 
Johnson — the " University of Virginia Memorial " — and I shall 
now cull from it some of the many dying utterances of ** Our 
Fallen Alumni," which beautifully and touchingly show the reality 
of the profession of faith in Christ which so large a proportion 
of these noble men made. 

Holmes and Tucker Conrad, of Martinsburg, were my friends 
at the university, and I could add my emphatic testimony to 
their humble, earnest, Christian character. They fell in the 
thickest of the fight at First Manassas, fighting side by side and 
behaving with most conspicuous gallantry, and were afterwards 
found clasped in each other's arms. The appropriate epitaph on 
their tomb tells the touching story of their lives and death : 

"HOLMES ADDISON CONRAD HENRY TUCKER CONRAD 

"Christian Brothers, 

" Lie buried here, side by side, as they fell in battle, 

" July 21, 1861. 

" Brothers in blood, in faith ; 

Brothers in youthful bloom ; 
Brothers in life, brothers in death, 

Brothers in one same tomb. 
Well fought they ' the good fight ; ' 

In death their victory won ; 
Sprung at one bound to heaven's light, 

And God's eternal Son," 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 425 

James Camp Turner^ of Alabama, thus fell at this same battle 
of First Manassas : 

" On the night of the arrival of the regiment on the battle-field, 
lights being forbidden, because of the close vicinity of the enemy, 
he read aloud, by the light of the moon, two chapters in the New 
Testament to the officers of his company. He then lay down to 
rest for the last time in life, observing as he was about to do so, 
* I think, from the signals, there will be hot work to-morrow.' 
The heroism of the Fourth Alabama, illustrated in the fierce 
struggle on that ' morrow,' has been heralded to the world, and 
is now historic. In the thick of the fight, at about 1 1 o'clock, 
Lieutenant James Camp Turner fell, pierced through the breast. 
' Tell my sister,' said he, ' I die happy on the battle-field, in de- 
fence of my country ; ' and with these words on his lips — his dying 
message to his idolized, only sister — his pure spirit ascended to 
God." 

jfames Chalmers, of Halifax county, who fell on the outpost 
and died several days after at Fairfax Court House, is thus 
spoken of by an intimate friend : 

" He possessed all the higher attributes of a Christian war- 
rior, with hand on hilt and eye on heaven, fighting at once under 
the banner of his country and the Cross of his Saviour. 

" He had been for many years a most consistent member of the 
Episcopal Church, and he carried his piety with him into every 
relation of life. At home he was a working Christian ; around 
the fireside, in the Sunday-school, or in the hut of the poor, he 
ever did his duty as a faithful worker in God's cause. In camp 
his example and precept were most potent for good, and none of 
those who enjoyed the privilege of nightly kneeling beside him 
in prayer will soon forget the earnest appeals that arose from his 
tent to the throne of grace. Upon his death-bed he drew his 
captain to him, and in whispered accents sent his love to the 
members of his company, and an earnest appeal to them to put 
their trust in that Saviour who enabled him joyfully to welcome 

death as a passport to a land of bliss Would that we had 

some consolation to offer the stricken hearts he left behind him ! 
Except in the belief that God disposes all things for the best, 
there is no balm for the hearts that bleed for the loss of such a 
husband, such a father, such a brother, such a son. It is, how- 
ever, an inexpressible comfort to know that he has ' fought his 
last battle,' and has gone to that long home ' where the wicked 



426 CHRIST IN THE CAMP. 

cease from troubling and the weary are at rest* His reward, 
as a faithful soldier of his country, will be meted to him by a 
grateful posterity. As a soldier of the Cross he now enjoys the 
perpetual bliss promised the good and faithful, and, in the very 
presence of God, w^ears the victor's crown of immortal glory." 

Colonel jfolin Baker TJiovipson, of Staunton, Virginia, one of 
the most gifted alumni ever sent out from the university, thus 
wrote his father — the venerable Judge Thompson — on the eve 
of his gallant death at the head -of his regiment: 

" Near Monterey, Tennessee., night of April 4, 1862. 
^'My Dear Father : I write by the light of our bivouac fire. 
We expect, by God's help, a glorious victory to-morrow. If I 
should not see you again, take the assurance that I trust in God 
to be prepared for all. Day after to-morrow is my birthday. 
Love to all. Your devoted son, 

'' John B. Thompson." 

yohn Thomas Jones, of the Fifth Alabama Regiment, I knew 
as a consistent Christian at the university, and his character in 
the army is thus described : 

" His letters to his parents and sister during that period are 
full of affection. He spoke often of death, but with the fullest 
assurance of a happy eternity. Nor did he ever write despond- 
ingly of the cause in which he was engaged. In one of his letters 
to his father he said : ' Do not be uneasy about me. Even if it 
should come to the worst, remember me, but do not regret me. 
Death can be but a temporary separation at most, and I had rather 
go before than survive you or my dear mother. I do not write 
thus to make you sad, but I cannot write otherwise than I feel. 
Our parting on that memorable morning in Pickensville is vividly 
before me, and your last words are yet ringing in my ears. I 
have as far as possible kept your parting injunctions. Father, if 
this should be my last letter, I implore your forgiveness for the 
coldness or ingratitude with which I may at any time have re- 
turned your love.' 

"Again he wrote : 



<( ( 



'Dear Parents : Do not be uneasy about me, for, sinful as I 
am and have been, I have put my trust in Christ, Whether I 
shall live or die, I believe all will be ordered for the best. It is 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. ^ 427 

a great consolation to believe you always remember me in your 
prayers.' 

" This same religious constancy followed him through the 
trials of the soldier's life. As illustrative of this, the following, 
related by a reliable comrade in arms, is pertinent: * While we 
were at Mechanicsville, awaiting Jackson's signal-gun, an officer 
indulged pretty freely in remarks which smacked strongly of 
infidelity. He had silenced those whom he had been more 
directly addressing, and appeared to be ** master of the field." 
Jones, who had been an attentive but silent listener, modestly 
asked permission to say something in defence of Christianity. 
He beo^an in a low, conversational tone to answer all that had 
been said. As he progressed he became more and more inter- 
ested in his subject, until his whole soul was aroused, and quite 
a crowd had gathered around and were eagerly listening. The 
result was that the officer was astonished and silenced, and they 
who had not previously known the speaker were inquiring 
who the little fellow was that had made such a defence of 
Christianity.' 

" This incident illustrates not only his moral and religious 
character, but also that of his mind. One is ready to infer from 
it that he must have possessed superior mental powers. Such was 
the fact; though a boyish, yet not undignified, reserve hid from 
the superficial observer or transient acquaintance the intellectual 
worth of this young man. In him the mental and the moral 
were happily blended. The quick and retentive memory, the 
correct judgment, the delicate taste, susceptible of the highest 
degree of refinement, all characteristic of his vigorous and grasp- 
ing mind, were sweetly harmonized by the spirit of fervid but 
unpretentious piety of this Christian soldier. 

**A short time after the incident related above the signal-gun 
was heard, and the command to march forward was given. The 
champion of the Christian religion went bravely forth to the de- 
fence of his country. 

" The result is known. He fell in the forefront of the battle. 
In accordance with his frequently expressed wishes his remains 
have never been removed. His couch was spread on the field 
of battle, and the soldier still * rests in a land hallowed by his 
efforts in the cause of liberty.' " 

Lieutenant Charles Ellis Munford, of Richmond, fought his 



428 - CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

guns of the Letcher Battery with a heroic courage worthy of his 
long hneage of illustrious sires, and his own reputation as a noble 
Christian soldier. His death is thus described: 

*' * The Letcher Battery still held its ground,' and, according to 
the**Annual Report of the Board of Visitors of the Virginia Mili- 
tary Institute " — to which some of its guns were afterwards 
donated — * was in action one hour and twenty minutes, in a 
position which, from a subsequent survey of the havoc made by 
the enemy, would appear to have been utterly untenable for a 
much shorter time.' It had indeed fought with heroic valor ; a 
caisson had exploded in their midst, yet they continued their fire 
as if giving a holiday salute. 

*' But did the fame it won compensate for the loss it suffered ? 
Twenty-two, killed and wounded, lay around their guns; among 
the killed. Lieutenant Charles Ellis Munford. 

" When ordered into battle that young officer had waved an 
adieu to friends who stood by him with so sweet a smile that 
none would have supposed him conscious of the danger he was 
plunging into. Absorbed at once by the duties of his position 
his eye ran rapidly over the men under his command. Among 
them were some who were very difficult to discipline ; one, 
especially, seemed thoroughly hardened, not hesitating even to 
resist the authority of his officers. Lieutenant Munford, almost 
in despair of making a soldier of him, had recently put him 
under arrest for some grave offence. But during the fight this 
man displayed a most extraordinary courage : wherever the 
dead fell fastest there he seemed to find his duty. Notic- 
ing his gallant conduct Munford dashed up to him, seized his 
hand, and said : ' I have come to ask you to forget what I did 
to you. You have shown yourself a hero to-day ; you cannot 
again be what you have been. Hereafter, be not the hero of a 
day, but of all time.' 

" These were almost his last words before he fell ; but they 
were * apples of gold in pictures of silver.' As by magic they 
thrilled the soul of the degraded man, and seemed to transform 
his very being. A few moments more, and the lips that uttered 
them were silent forever, and the countenance just now glowing 
with the inspiration of battle was resuming its pleasant smile 
and settling into the repose of death. The soldier sought and 
obtained permission to bear the body from the field. When he 
delivered his charge to the friends of the dead lieutenant, his 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE*S ARMY. 42^ 

rough face was wet with tears, and he said to them, as with the 
promptings of a new hfe, 'He was the first who ever saw any 
good in me, or tlioiight me capable of better things. I shall never 
forget him' Happy the man who is remembered thus ! 

" The family of EUis Munford had the mournful pleasure — 
denied, afes ! to so many others under like bereavement — of fol- 
lowing his remains to the grave. He was buried in Hollywood 
Cemetery, near Richmond, his pastor, the Rev. Dr. Charles 
Minnegerode, conducting the funeral services." 

H. Everard Meade, of Petersburg, died at home, July lo, 1862, 
of disease contracted while serving in the Twelfth Virginia 
Regiment, and his death is thus recorded : 

** Conscious that the end was near, and that the hour of his 
departure was at hand, he calmly kissed each member of his 
family and bade them good-bye, with the parting words to each, 
* Meet me in heaven.' Then turning and clasping the hand of 
his physican, who was also his friend and kinsman, he said to 
him : * I am dying, Hugh. Fight Christ's battles, as we are now 
fighting those of our country. Take Him as your great ex- 
ample, remembering that there is no happiness save in a life of 
virtue.' With these beautiful words trembling on his lips, he 
closed his eyes, and the brave young spirit was gone." 

Captain Patrick H. Clark, of Halifax county, fell at the post of 
duty, stricken by disease after passing unscathed through shot 
and shell ; and the venerable Bishop Johns, of the Episcopal 
Church, thus spoke of him : 

** Other appropriate obituaries have borne truthful testimony 
to the manly virtues, social refinement and accomplished edu- 
cation of this patriotic youth, which endeared him to all who 
knew him, and rendered his early death a costly sacrifice in the 
cause of his country, and a deep and enduring affliction to his 
devoted family and friends. 

" It is to record for their solace and support the clear and 
decided assurance of their dying relative and associate that this 
notice is penned. 

" To the estimable lady who, during his short and severe ill- 
ness, ministered to him with maternal tenderness, and who had 
expressed to him her hope of his recovery, he replied — * I am 
very ill ; but do not think I am alarmed. I am not afraid to 
meet my God. If He spares my life, well. If otherwise, / am 
perfectly resigned. My trust is in Jesus! 



430 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

" In the battle of Manassas and before Richmond, his brave 
heart manifested itself in distinguished deeds of gallant bearing ; 
and in the silence and solemnity of his chamber, when all causes 
of animal excitement were absent, and he was conscious of the 
pressure of the cold hand of death, he was calm, collected, and 
hopeful. Death had no fears to him. He who had nobly laid 
his worldly wealth, and all he hoped for, even life itself, on the 
altar of his country, was himself reposing in the arms of Jesus, 
and could confidently say, ' It is well ' — ' well ' if spared ; * well' 
if removed ; ' well ' for time and eternity. 

** We may thus, amidst the merited wreaths which his ad- 
miring and grateful survivors shower on his honored grave, 
discern an unearthly and incorruptible bloom bestowed by the 
invisible hand of grace, to refresh with its fragrance those who 
mourn him, and hereafter to bear the precious fruit of eternal hfe." 

Major Hugh Mortimer Nelson, of Clark county, Virginia, who 
was one of the ablest of the ** union men " of the Virginia Con- 
vention of 1 86 1, but who, like most of his party, buckled on his 
sword when all of Virginia's efforts at pacification had failed, 
and did gallant service on the staff of General Ewell, died August 
8, 1862. 

A faithful friend who was with him wrote thus, immediately 
after his death : " Truly, I felt it a privilege to listen to him, to 
hear his testimony to the glorious salvation of which he was 
assured. ' Saved by grace,' he repeated again and again. * I am 
safe, safe in the Lord Jesus.' AH his views were bright; no 
cloud obscured his hope of heaven." 

Another, who joined him soon after, wrote of his wonderful 
serenity and his triumphant trust in his Saviour. ** I am in 
sweet hands — safe in the arms of the Lord Jesus," were his words. 
A little after, he exclaimed, " Glorious brightness ! " One who 
sat close by, asked, " Where does it come from ? " " Straight 
from my Saviour's countenance," he replied immediately. 

His message to his wife and children was " to stand still and 
wait on the Lord for salvation." 

On the 8th day of August, 1862, his brave spirit winged its way 
to the bosom of its God. And we add, reverently and trustfully, 
" Let me die the death the righteous, and let my last end be like 
his." 

Lieutenant Coteswortli Pinckney Seabrook, of South Carolina, fell 
on the field of Chancellorsville. His splendid career and happy 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMV. 431 

end have been worthily written in a sketch by the graceful pen of 
Captain W. Gordon McCabe, which concludes as follows : 

" The following letter, the last he ever penned, reflects the 
soldierly spirit which animated him and the rest of the army on 
the eve of that 'great campaign: 

" * In the Trenches, four miles from Fredericksburg, 

'"April 30, 1863. 

'^ 'My Dear Mother : The battle of Fredericksburg, to all ap- 
pearances, is, like Manassas, to have a duplicate. At ten o'clock 
yesterday morning, without any previous notice, or the least 
expectation on our part of an advance by the enemy, a courier, 
in a desperate hurry, brought the order to be ready to move at 
a moment's notice, which was soon followed by the final one, 
and at 10.30 our winter-quarters were broken up, camp deserted, 
and the " Light Division " was wending its way towards the old 
battle-field. There are soldiers for you ! After being in camp six 
months, where a great many little comforts had been collected, 
to be on the march in half an hour from the time they were told 
to prepare to leave ! Of course there was no time for cooking, 
so we had to do without food until this morning, when hard 
crackers and raw salt beef was served to the thousands of 
hungry men anxiously expecting something. It rained from the 
time we arrived yesterday evening until noon to-day, but we were 
so tired and hungry that sleep was not to be driven off by any 
circumstances, however disadvantageous, and I for one slept like 
a top. Our brigade occupies exactly the same position it did in 
the last battle, and there is not much danger of the Yanks flank- 
ing us again. The men are in splendid spirits, ready to yell on 
the least provocation. " Old Jack " and Lee both caught it 
mercilessly this morning while making the rounds. We just know 
that we can thrash Hooker " out gf sight," and the beauty of 
the thing is that he and his men know it too. From the top of 
the hill, behind our lines, their long lines can be plainly seen. 
Our skirmishers are only a few hundred yards apart. Tlie 
batteries have opened aitd the men are falling in, so good-bye ; have 
no fear for me, for I fear nothing for myself. My tnist in God is 
always strong enough in such times as these to keep me cool and 
confident! 

"Long before this letter met the loving eyes for which it was 



432 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

intended, tidings had sped to the mother that her boy, while 
leading his men to victory, had fallen in front of the works at 
Chancellorsville. He had followed the great leader of his corps 
in countless earthly triumphs, and now shared with him a victory 
before which paled all the glories of Richmond and Manassas. 
He had fought the good fight, he had endured hardness as a 
good soldier of Christ ; he had won the crown of life promised 
to those who are faithful unto death. 

" It Avould be well-nigh impossible to picture the gloom cast 
by his death upon his regiment, his brigade, upon all who knew 
him. The old brigade he loved so well paid his memory the 
unusual honor of attending almost in a body the rude obsequies 
accorded the young subaltern. Like the hero of Corufia, he was 
buried at night, wrapped in his smiple soldier's blanket, on the 
field made glorious for all time by his own valor and that of his 
comrades. No useless coffin, no farewell shot — only the strug- 
gling moonbeams shining on the hero's grave. 

" He now sleeps among his own kindred in the far-off South- 
ern land. 

** The hold which he had taken on all hearts is evidenced by 
the countless letters which came to his family voluntarily, and at 
once, from those who knew him. Some had been his compan- 
ions at college, some on Morris Island, some in the campaigns 
in Virginia ; but in all cases the testimony was the same to that 
most rare union of gentle and soldierly virtues, to his humble 
piety, splendid courage, gentleness, purity, self-abnegation. His 
captain, a distinguished university man and a tried soldier, who 
in the next general action yielded up his noble life, writes to 
his mother: 'Of his nobleness and piety I need not tell you. 
Though so long absent, his heart, I know, was ever open to his 
parents in all things; and I have never known anything of him, 
but his praises and his merits, that he might not tell you. Al- 
ways mindful of his religious duties, he was of late especially 
devout, constantly reading his Bible, and often singing hymns 
with the men, whose affectionate regard for him caused them to 
take every occasion to be with and about him. His cheerful, 
bright humor never flagged, even on the battle-field, where his 
smile seemed more radiant than ever, while his voice and com- 
mand gave life and courage to those about him.' 

" His lieutenant-colonel, long before death had hallowed his 
memory to his friends, described him as ' in battle splendid, in 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE*S ARMY. 43^ 

private life exceedingly beloved — in short, the model of a Chris- 
tian soldier.' 

" Many knew him only on the field of battle. These were 
impressed by his person and bearing, by his fine soldierly in- 
stinct, by the coolness in desperate events which shone clear of 
all affectation. But to those who possessed the privilege of his 
friendship, no mere words, nothing but his simple name, 'Pinck- 
ney Seabrook' can bring back a semblance of the man they loved. 
Selfish sorrow dares not raise its wail in contemplating that 
Christian life, so rounded with the sleep which He giveth His 
beloved ; while, as a soldier, his name shall go down upon the 
lips of comrades eager to speak the biography of one who, to their 
mind, filled the measure of perfect knighthood — ' chaste in his 
thoughts, modest in his words, liberal and valiant in deeds.' " 

Dr. jfohn H. Coivin, of Alabama, left the practice of his noble 
profession to enlist as a private soldier in the Fifth Alabama 
Regiment, was made orderly sergeant of his company, and fell 
in the forefront of the battle at Chancellorsville, his last words 
being : "/ am sinking vciy fast, I tliink. If I die, tell my father 
that I fell near the colors, and in the discharge of my duty!' 

Lieutenant Francis Pendleton Jones, of Louisa county, Vir- 
ginia, left the university to enlist as a private in Company D, 
Thirteenth Virginia Infantry (in the ranks of which he had two 
brothers), was promoted to a position on the staff of his uncle. 
General John M. Jones (who was killed at the Wilderness), fell 
leading a charge on the heights of Gettysburg, got home to 
die, and thus yielded up his noble, young life : 

" He was perfectly conscious that his end was at hand, ex- 
pressed his entire willingness to die, if it was God's will that he 
should do so, and said that his hope of salvation was in Christ 
alone. The day of his death, a friend read to him the fourteenth 
chapter of John, and at its conclusion he said, with a sweet smile, 
* I always loved those words. That chapter was a great favorite 
with my dear mother, and she used frequently to read it to me 
when I was a boy. I know its meaning now. Yes ! and I will 
soon meet her, and dear Ed.* too, in one of those bright man- 
sions which Jesus went to prepare for us.' Thus on the 2d day 
of September, 1863, Francis Pendleton Jones passed from the 
earth." 

* A younger brother, who had fallen at Gaines's Mill, June 27, 1862, 

28 



484 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

The death of Lmitcnant William Fauntleroy Cocke, of Cum- 
berland county, Virginia, has been thus touchingly described by 
the facile pen of Mrs. Margaret J. Preston : 

" Captain Carter Harrison, in a letter to his brother, thus 
speaks of him : 

" ' My intimate acquaintance with your noble brother, William, 
dates from the commencement of the war, when I had the honor 
to command the company in which he served ; for it was an honor 
even to belong to that glorious army in which such men enlisted 
as privates. 

" * His modest and retiring disposition rendered it necessary to 
know him long and well to properly appreciate his great worth, 
that rare union of literary and cultivated taste-s with sturdy man- 
liness which so remarkably characterized him. Over and above 
all this were the Christian faith and sense of duty which rounded 
and completed his character. These were daily illustrated in 
the cheerfulness and alacrity with w^hich he discharged any duty 
assigned him by his military superior. I remember that soon 
after going into the service, he was detailed with a large party 
on fatigue duty, involving severe labor — a service at that time 
peculiarly obnoxious to men unused to labor, for the most part, 
and strangers to the requirements of military rule. The officer 
in command of the party, entirely unacquainted with your brother, 
remarked that '* if all the men worked like tliat man " — pointing 
tp him — " the task would be quickly finished." What an ex- 
ample to the rank and file of our volunteer army! A man 
reared in wealth and luxury setting himself to work with such 
will and alacrity as to make himself conspicuous among 
his fellow-so'diers and call forth such commendation, doing 
" with all his might whatsoever his hand found to do " at the 
call of duty. 

" 'At the battle Manassas, Avhile charging the enemy, he be- 
thoug]:t him that his ammunition was expended ; and stooping 
over a dead soldier, he gathered from his belt a handful of car- 
tridges and transferred them to his own box with such quickness 
and dexterity as not to be thrown out of his place in the ranks — 
a remarkable instance of coolness in a young volunteer for the 
first time under fire. When I related this to Colonel Robert 
Preston, of the Twenty-eighth, " God bless the boy," said the 
gallant old soldier. 

" * You were not present on the night when we contemplated 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 435 

a surprise of the enemy's outposts near Washington. When the 
temper of the men had become such that it was thought neces- 
sary to call for volunteers, company by company, and to take 
only such as were willing to go, at the call, three men from 
Company E stepped to my side without hesitation or a moment's 
deliberation ; one of the three was William Cocke. Any one 
who knew him would have counted on him at such a time ; he 
IV as always where duty called. 

" ' On the march, bivouac, outpost, fatigue duty, anywhere, he 
was cheerful, uncomplaining, patient and obedient, never seeking 
or caring for promotion, but only solicitous to do well his part 
" in that station to which it pleased God to call him." He was 
a noble pattern and example of the Christian soldier and gentle- 
man; and so I ever found him to the close. It was not my for- 
tune to be with him when his well-earned promotion came un- 
sought, nor to be present on that day when his bright career was 
ended. But I am persuaded that as he lived, so he died; that 
the faith which had sustained him in life did not fail him in 
death. Your friend and mine, Sergeant Jackson (now gone to 
his rest), a short time before his death, speaking of your brother 
in most touching and affecting terms, told me he was always 
associated in his memory with the little Greek Testainent he loved 
so well and read so constantly. Could a comrade well give a 
nobler eulogy ? Who would not say, " Let me be thus remem- 
bered?'" 

" When Lieutenant Cocke passed from under the bare branches 
of his ancestral oaks, that bleak January morning, 1863, it was 
to see them no more forever. Although still lame from his 
wound, he persisted in returning to his post. This furlough, 
which the nursing of his wounded leg necessitated, was his last. 
In all the rapid, eager, deadly struggles of the next six months, 
he was a constant participator ; marching, fighting, watching, he 
bore on with the same quenchless endurance and heroic forti- 
tude, even to the end. 

"As he passed with Lee's Army through Frederick City, on 
its march to Pennsylvania, a young female friend — who in the 
happy days gone by had been accustomed for months together 
to share, with other joyous summer guests, the hospitalities of 
Lieutenant Cockers beautiful home — stood upon the pavement's 
edge, and with streaming tears of wonder and pride, gazed on 
him incredulously as he presented himself before her. It was 



436 

not strange that, in the bronzed, roughened, hungry soldier, she 
could with difficulty find a trace of the gay companion of many 
a well-remembered gala-day of old. Alas, for the ravages of 
death! Both have passed away, to meet in that beautiful city 
whose streets are ' like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.' 

" The hurry and confusion, the fearful rapidity with which 
event trod upon the heels of event, in those after-crowded weeks, 
prevent us from knowing much of the closing scenes of this fair 
and well-wrought life, which did not quite reach twenty-eight 
years. 

"On the fatal morning of July 3, 1863, William Cocke stood 
facing the enemy's guns before Gettysburg, ready for that terrible 
onset which was to send a wail of agony through the entire land. 
/Never,' writes Captain Cocke, * do I remember to have seen 
William more calm, quiet or collected, than he was on that 
morning, as I had my last sight of him standing within seventy 
or eighty feet of the enemy's breastworks.' He had looked 
death too often and too steadily in the eye to quail now ; and we 
may feel well assured that if it had been announced to him then 
and there that the next volley was to be the messenger to sum- 
mon him from the ghastly awfulness of the battle-field into the 
pure presence of God, not a muscle of that genial and pleasant 
countenance would have quivered, not a pulsation of that stead- 
fast heart quickened. He knew *in whom he had believed.' 
We feel sure that the ' little Greek Testament ' was turned to for 
strength and solace in that hour of fearful crisis. ' Let not your 
heart be troubled;' 'where I am, there shall my servant be.' 
' Whosoever believeth in me shall never die.' And thus com- 
forted and fortified, would he not hide in his bosom again the 
dear and well-used volume, and with a supreme faith, uncon- 
scious of fear, step gloriously forth to his doom? 

**A11 we can know is, that when the deadly onset was made. 
Lieutenant Cocke rushed upon the batteries : clouds of smoke 
veiled the carnage that followed ; cannon belched their fire, the 
earth shook with the tread of contending armies, the grass grew 
sodden with blood ; and when the rage of battle ceased, and the 
broken bands fell back exhausted, William Cocke ivas not among 
them. No one had seen him fall, none could give any tidings 
of him. All who had closely surrounded him had doubtless 
sunk beneath the same charge ; and the silence that came back 
upon the souls of those who questioned of his fate was the only 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 437 

answer. Right under the muzzles of the murderous guns he 
had heard the Voice which said, ^Come up hither! 

" Captain Cocke was slightly wounded by a ball passing be- 
tween his ear and his head, which grooved a course for itself in 
the flesh ; so narrow was the dividing-line between life and death ! 
Yet he was instant in laborious search for the beloved, missing 
brother ; but it was all in vain ; * he saw him no more.' 

'' We pass over the record of the six torturing months of sus- 
pense, in which it remained a question whether he might not be 
a helpless and wounded captive in some distant fort. We dwell 
not on the deferred hope that sickened and at length died utterly 
away ; while the hearts that had nursed and clung to it, and kept 
it alive so long, sank down into silent and acquiescent sorrow. 
' None knoweth the place of his sepulchre unto this day.' 

" Thus meagrely, and with scant materials at hand, has the 
writer of this sketch endeavored to outline the character of Wil- 
liam Fauntleroy Cocke, who, it will be allowed, belonged to that 
class of men 

" ' Who, living, are but dimly guessed, 
But show their length in graves.' " 

Among the cherished friends of my university days I counted 
Win. T. Haskell, of South Carolina, one of the purest, truest, 
noblest, Christian gentlemen whom I ever knew. I remember 
meeting him on the march to Gettysburg, in command of the 
battalion of sharpshooters of his division, and for miles we 
revived hallowed memories of our university days, talked of the 
hopes of the future, and expressed our confidence that the im- 
pending battle would result in another splendid victory for the 
Army of Northern Virginia, which we hoped would establish the 
independence of the Confederacy. I remember he spoke calmly 
of the probability that he might fall, and expressed his full trust 
in Christ and entire resignation to God's will. Alas ! I never 
saw him again, and the story of his death is thus told in the 
*' University Memorial : " 

" We have been kindly favored with the following extract from 
the unpublished report of Pender's Division in the battle of 
Gettysburg: 

'* ' During a successful charge made to drive the enemy from 
a road in front of Cemetery Hill, Captain William T. Haskell, 
First South Carolina Volunteers, in charge of a select battalion 



438 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

of sharpshooters, received a wound from which he died in a few 
moments, on the field. " This brave and worthy young officer," 
says Colonel Perrin, in his official report of this transaction, "fell 
while nobly walking along the front line of his command, en- 
couraging his men and selecting favorable positions for them to 
defend. He was educated and accomplished, possessing in a 
high degree every virtuous quality of the true gentleman and 
Christian. He was an officer of most excellent judgment, and a 
soldier of the coolest and most chivalrous daring." ' 

'* Colonel Perrin, whose tribute is given in this extract, was at 
the time in command of the brigade, and was made brigadier- 
general for his conduct in this battle. No higher testimony 
could be given than that of this distinguished officer who, after 
a brilliant career, subsequently surrendered his own life in de- 
fence of his country. 

" The following is the conclusion of an obituary written soon 
after, by a superior officer of his own regiment ; * Captain Has- 
kell, at the time of his death, was one of but three officers who 
had been through every engagement in which his regiment had 
participated, in none of which did he fail to distinguish himself 
At Cold Harbor, Manassas, and Chancellorsville his conduct was 
most strikingly conspicuous. 

'* * Such a character as Captain Haskell's deserves far more 
than the limits of such a notice as this allows. His was indeed 
no ordinary character. Would that a fitter position had afforded 
a larger sphere for the happy effects of its influence ! Fortunate 
indeed were those who had such an example before them — the 
example of a Christian soldier ! A courteous gentleman, a rigid 
disciplinarian, a careful observer, constantly attending to the 
wants and comfort of his men, a brave and heroic leader in 
battle — prejudice against his discipline, at first new, misunder- 
stood, and not appreciated, melted away before his conspicuous 
discharge of duty. He who would most rigidly enforce disci- 
pline, who knew no compromise in the enforcement of orders, 
was found to be the first at the bedside of the sick, bringing with 
him into the dreary hospital the tenderness of a woman, and with 
a touch like hers softening the hard pallet to the sick or wounded. 
Requiring an implicit obedience to his own orders, he yielded a 
like obedience to the orders of his superiors. Sharing whatever 
hardships his men were called upon to endure, he repressed all 
murmuring by his cheerfulness under them. He had no rule 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 439 

for his men which did not apply to himself. Every action, every 
word, seemed to be measured by his duty to his God and his 
country. Hardships were to be borne cheerfully, not com- 
plained of He lay in his single blanket in the snow and ate his 
simple ration with the same cheerfulness as if he were enjoying 
the kixuries of home. While carefully taking every precaution, 
he could bear no foreboding of evil. 

" ' Of his conduct in battle, no fitter description can be found 
than his own language, in writing of his friend, Lieutenant Sea- 
brook, after his death : " He was a brave man — nobly brave ! 
brave as a man can be who has committed his soul to God and 
given his life to his country." True words of himself He, too, 
had committed his soul to his God, and, in his readiness to meet 
his Saviour, death had no terrors for him. Whatever ties there 
were to life, he was ready to sacrifice them to his country. That 
life, which he had freely offered on so many battle-fields, was at 
last taken in the bloody battle of Gettysburg. The loss is his 
friends', his fellow-soldiers', his country's — the gain his own ! 
Few have served their country so well ; none, we trust, rest more 
happily from their labors.' 

** The same mail brought to Mrs. Haskell the intelligence of 
the death of Captains Langdon Cheves, Charles T. Haskell, and 
William T. Haskell, a brother and two sons, one in the vigor of 
maturity, the others in the prime of youthful manhood. ' These 
men,' in the language of a public journal which, in this instance 
at least, gave utterance to the public sentiment — ' these men were 
all of the stuff of which heroes are made. They all did the 
duties of life with earnestness ; all died the death of martyrs in 
a cause to which they had devoted themselves without stint ; 
and of each of them, it is no exaggeration to say, the anxious 
inquiry has gone forth, Who can fill his place ? ' 

"In November, 1866, the remains of William Thompson 
Haskell were raised from the field of Gettysburg by the hands 
of his comrades, and brought to his native town. At the depot 
they were met by the survivors of the old company with which 
he had originally entered the service, and escorted to the Epis- 
copal Church, when, with solemn services and amid deep emo- 
tion, they were interred in the adjacent cemetery. 

" We have spoken of his rare gifts, of his heroic qualities, of 
his unselfish patriotism, and his devotion unto death. Let us 
add, in conclusion, that all these were animated by Christian 



440 

principle and illuminated by Christian faith. The spirit of apos- 
tles, prophets, and martyrs, and of Him who is Head over all, 
had made its abode in him. A Divine Power had tempered into 
harmony, and had exalted into heroism the natural qualities of 
the man. That Power has raised him to a glory infinitely tran- 
scending the glory of earthly success or human applause." 

Burditt IV. As/itou, of King George county, Virginia, private 
in Company C, Ninth Virginia Cavalry, was killed on the 3d day 
of July, at Gettysburg, and a friend thus closes a sketch of his 
noble young life : 

" But these accomplishments and these fine points of character 
which adorn the outer man, are as nothing when compared with 
the jewel which he wore in his heart, and which was his con- 
fidence in the hour of death. The crown of his life was his trust 
in God. At the early age of fourteen, under the training of his 
pious parents, he had committed his soul to the Saviour; soon 
afterwards he was confirmed at the Old Fork Church, in Hanover 
county, by the Right Rev. Bishop Johns, and thenceforth his life 
was eminently Christian. Had his life been spared, it was his 
purpose, after making the needful preparation, to preach the 
Gospel. A gentleman who formed his acquaintance and friend- 
ship while a school-boy at Hanover Academy, and afterwards 
roomed with him at the university, uses the following strong 
language in regard to him : 

*' * I never saw a more beautiful Christian in my life. Truly 
pious and conscientious, he was prompted in every act by duty 
and principle. By close application he was storing his strong 
and vigoro^us mind with knowledge, to be used in the Master's 
cause. Uninfluenced by any worldly or personal consideration, 
and with an eye to the glory of God, he had dedicated himself 
to His work and service. Had he lived, he would have entered 
the ministry as an Episcopal clergyman.' 

" * It is well,' then, with him. His ministry has only been 
transferred to a higher sphere. Up there, away beyond the stars, 
they that wait for the Lord shall meet him ' in the morning.' " 

Colonel William Welford Randolph, of Clark county, Virginia, 
fell at the Wilderness, on the 5th of May, 1864, heroically lead- 
ing the- old Second Virginia Infantry, Stonewall Brigade. 

Colonel John Esten Cooke writes, for the " University Me- 
morial," a graceful sketch of this noble soldier, from which I 
make the following extracts : 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 441 

" Such is the unadorned record of the career of the noble 
young Virginian. Such a recital, necessarily brief, and touching 
upon the mere dates and leading events, must always be unsat- 
isfactory, especially to those who personally knew the original. 
For behind the naked statement, the dry and incomplete record, 
is the livinsf, breathing- individual, whose face and form and char- 
acter survive in memory. These lines can give no adequate idea 
of William Randolph. It was one of the bravest of the brave 
who thus followed Jackson in all his hard campaigns ; marching, 
musket on shoulder, in the ranks ; who mounted the works at 
Gettysburg, and faced the fire unmoved; who was everywhere in 
the fore-front of battle, leading, cheering, and inspiring all ; and 
who fell at last on the bloody field of the Wilderness, soon after 
uttering the grand words : ' Jesus can receive the soul of the 
warrior on the battle-field as well as on the softest couch.' 

" Of the mere attribute of courage we could give, if necessary, 
a hundred instances. It is the amount of this testimony which 
excludes it, and we present but a paragraph or two : the first 
from a letter of General Terry, the last commander of the Stone- 
wall Brigade, to Dr. Randolph, after the death at Cedar Creek, in 
October, 1864, of Captain Robert Randolph, a younger brother 
of our subject : 

" * I knew your sons, William and Robert, well ; ' writes Gen- 
eral Terry. * I am proud to say they were my intimate, per- 
sonal friends. They possessed my unbounded confidence as 
friends, as gentlemen, and as soldiers. No man has given to 
the Confederate cause two better soldiers and more gallant 
gentlemen. As the brigade commander, I feel their loss ; and 
deeply have I to regret the fall of Lieutenant-Colonel William 
W. Randolph, so soon after his promotion to a position which, I 
feel assured, he would have filled with distinguished credit to 
himself and the service. I was looking forward to the day 
when still further honors awaited your sons. While you have 
cause to sorrow over their early graves, yet you have reason to 
be proud to know that they fell where duty called, at the head 
of their commands. They fell by no random shot, but Avhere 
the fire was the hottest.' 

"'As an officer,' says Major R. W. Hunter, in an eloquent 
eulogy delivered upon the character of his dead friend and as- 
sociate, in the Virginia Legislature, ' as an officer. Colonel Ran- 
dolph possessed the entire confidence of those above and below 



442 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

him. With my own ears I have heard the great Jackson speak 
in his praise, and his name and daring deeds are still themes 
around the camp-fire of his regiment.' To this we add the elo- 
quent words of another friend : ' The very soul of the Confed- 
eracy was in him.' 

** Such was the character, most briefly depicted, of Colonel 
Randolph, the soldier. He was brave among the bravest; 
shrunk from nothing in his path ; but this mere courage of the 
soldier was the least beautiful of his traits. Beneath the gray 
coat which defined the simple outer man, if we may so express 
it, was the human being of heart, so warm, true, generous, and 
noble, that those who knew him best may almost be said to 
have thought least of him as a mere soldier; valuing more the 
character of the man in his private life than the faculties and 
fame of the officer. Of this private and unofficial character, the 
writer of this page had ample knowledge ; and, going back to- 
day in memory to the past, can recall no human being, among 
all encountered in this world, endowed with qualities more cal- 
culated to endear one to his species. Firm in his loves and 
friendships, utterly true and reliable, so that you could always 
count upon his word ; making no professions which he did not 
feel ; cool, resolute, determined to find what was right, and to 
pursue it careless of consequences ; giving his heart with his 
hand, scorning falsehood, and hating it with a perfect hatred ; 
he was a true man in the fullest sense of that word. 

" Of the mere intellectual faculties, those who knew him had 
a very high estimate. His mind was one of extraordinary 
vigor, and he saw clearly into every subject, possessing in no 
ordinary degree that 'judicial intellect' which makes great 
lawyers and celebrated judges. At the bar he must have taken 
a very high rank. 

" Of Colonel Randolph in his private character, too, much 
might be said. A friend writes : ' He had the most untiring and 
dauntless energy I ever saw, the clearest views of complicated 
questions, and withal, such a grand and noble simplicity of char- 
acter and total freedom from guile, that it brings tears to my 
dim eyes to think of him as I saw him last, so hopeful, so self- 
reliant, so brave, so tender, so true.' A hundred such passages 
might be quoted, referring to the individual at every period oj 
his life, from the time when, at Hanover Academy, Mr. Lewis 
Coleman spoke of him to his old pastor as * a magnificent boy/ 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 443 

to the moment when over his lifeless body strong men wept, sa- 
luting him as one of the great commonwealth which gave him 
birth; but for these details we have no space. 

*'We shall terminate this sketch by some quotations from his 
letters to his mother and another person very dear to him, 
which display in an unmistakable light that crowning grace of 
manhood — perfect reliance upon God, and a sure realization of 
the only source from which he could expect hope and happi- 
ness. We present these passages without comment. Let the 
careless reader not omit a perusal of them. In every line a pure 
spirit speaks and shows the loveliness of trust and humility. 

" From ' Newtown, March 23, 1862. Tell Ma that I thought 
of her and her teachings ; and that if she does hear of my fall, 
she must not think of me as one who died without hope.' 

'''April 10, 1862. In the thickest of the fight I know that 
God can hear the silent prayer of the greatest sinner, and, 
through the blood of Him who saved the dying thief upon the 
Cross, can in like manner translate the soul of the warrior from 
the battle-field to a sinless, happy home in heaven.' 

" 'December 11, 1862. We are on the verge of a great battle 
or a retreat. ... I trust that, if I fall, the great Father of Spirits 
will take me to Himself, sinner though I am, through the merits 
of a Saviour whose love I have so often slighted.' 

'"March 14, 1863. You must pray for me, as I know you 
do. I feel, somehow, a need which cannot be supplied in this 
world. . . . Yes, it may be the first whisperings of that mys- 
terious voice whose power can yet turn my heart from its stub- 
born sinfulness, and to that Power I go, with humbler heart and 
deeper prayer than ever before.' 

" 'March 31, 1863. These days in camp seem very dreary to 
me, separated from you. . . . You must redouble your prayers 
for me, that I may be drawn to Christ. I feel more on this sub- 
ject than ever before in my life. It is a hard struggle to me, 
and you cannot know fully the hopeless feeling of one who has 
been for years so sinful as I have been. But the promise of our 
Saviour is to the vilest of sinners, and I feel that I am one of 
them. I have been and am so wicked that I feel as if it is al- 
most impious in me to approach the throne of grace and hope 
for mercy. I trust to be spared to atone, in some measure, in 
the future for the past ; but if God in His wisdom takes me 
from you, we will hope to meet in that bright world for which 



444 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

you are so well fitted, and for which atoning grace may prepare 
me.' 

'''May 2, 1864. The sweet bright days are gone, and now 
the stern work of war is to begin. . . . You must not be more 
uneasy than you can possibly help, . . . but, above all, remem- 
ber that in any event I humbly hope and believe that we will 
meet again in heaven.' 

" 'May 3, 1864. We have everything to be thankful for since 
this time last year ; let us trust Him for the future. I intend to 
try and live so that if I am taken we may meet as we must do 
in that world where there is no more parting, and where sin 
and sorrow are unknown.' 

" The spirit of trustfulness in the living Redeemer — that 
spirit whose gradual development may be traced, if we mistake 
not, in these touching words — is the crowning grace of a noble 
character. 

" Do we exaggerate when we say that the death of such a 
man was a sore and bitter loss, not only to his friends and 
family, but to his native land as well ? The brain to conceive, 
the heart to dare, the hand to execute — all these went down 
with him and are lost to us to-day. The great old Common- 
wealth has not yet lost, it may be, the ' breed of noble minds ; ' 
but none of her living sons possess a grander organization than 
the young soldier whose great qualities we have here so inade- 
quately depicted." 

Colonel y. TJionipson Brozvn, of the First Virginia Artillery, 
who fell at the battle of the Wilderness, was thus spoken of at 
the close of a memorial sketch by Hon. B. Johnson Barbour : 

" ' Colonel Brown united in his character in a remarkable 
degree the excellencies of a soldier, the qualities of a gentleman, 
and the virtues of a Christian. To a cultivated intellect he 
joined judgment, energy, and promptitude, and was conspicuous 
for his gallantry in all the battles of the war in which he was en- 
gaged. He possessed the love of his soldiers, the esteem of his 
commanders, and the admiration of his native State.' 

" And thus we close the record of this brave young soldier, 
painfully conscious of the imperfect manner in which our portion 
of the duty has been performed, but finding compensation in the 
reflection that his truest and best epitaph is declared in the mul- 
tiplied evidences we have given of the unusual and universal grief 
which his death brought to all his companions in arms, from the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE*S ARMY. 445 

great commander to the humblest private ; and in the unrecorded 
sorrow of that other host of friends, who, standing as it were by 
his tomb, would with one consent inscribe upon it in imperish- 
able characters the declaration, that in the long and mournful 
catalogue of the victims of the late war, Virginia finds the name 
of no truer, braver, or better son than John Thompson Brown." 

A few days later, at Spottsylvania Court House, fell the accom- 
plished Major David Watson, of the same artillery regiment with 
Colonel Brown, and of whom it was said: 

" Major Watson was borne from the field and carried to a 
neighboring house, where he received all the aid that kindness 
and sympathy could give. Happily, he retained his faculties 
long, enough to recognize the presence of that heart-broken 
mother ; she who had leaned forward with throbbing heart to 
catch the first tidings from every battle-field on which her dar- 
ling was endangered, and on whose prophetic face for three 
long, anxious years had been prefigured this coming agony. She 
came in time to receive the last pressure of that ' dear hand,' 
and to hear from his own lips this solemn declaration, ' I have 
never believed in a deathbed repentance ; so for three years I 
have, every night, before retiring to x^'^X, earnestly prayed to God, 
not so mncli tliat He woidd spare my life as that He zvould prepare 
me for this day, and save my soid! Comforting words ! welling 
up from a brave, honest, sincere heart, and recalling the kindred 
declarations of Jackson and of Havelock." 

George Washington Stuart, of Fairfax county, Virginia, private 
in the Rockbridge Artillery, fell at Chancellorsville and needs 
no fitter epitaph than the following extract from a letter from 
General R. E. Lee to his sister, dated " Camp Fredericksburg, 
May II, 1863:" 

" I grieve greatly on my own account. I am deprived of one 
whom I loved and admired, and whose presence always brought 
me pleasure. His gentleness, his manliness, his goodness won 
the affection of all, and all sorrow at his death. But think what 
he has gained, what peace he enjoys ; what suffering, toil and 
hardship he may have been spared. God, in His mercy, be 
assured, has taken him at the right time and right place for him. 
May He give to his mother and his friends that strength and 
that support they require ! On learning the sad news, I went 
to Mrs. Marye's the evening I returned from Chancellorsville, 
where I knew that he had been properly appreciated and kindly 



446 CHRIST IN THE camp; 

received, and learned that he was interred in their fimily ceme- 
tery, where I thought he had better rest. Mrs. P told me 

everything had been done that could be, and that she had written 
to your mother. Peace to his ashes and honor to his memory, 
and may God comfort and support us all ! 

" ' He needs no tears who lived a noble life ; 
We will not weep for him who died so well, "• 

But we will gather round the hearth, and tell 

The story of his strife. 
Such homage suits him well — 
Better than funeral pomp and passing bell.' " 

Lieutenant French Strotlier Bibb, of Charlottesville, Virginia, 
who fell at Chancellorsville bravely doing his duty in command 
of his guns of the Chancellorsville Artillery, was my pupil when a 
boy, and I watched with deepest interest his development into 
the heroic man he proved himself to be, but above all I rejoiced 
that his simple trust in Christ grew stronger as the years went 
on. In 'a sketch of him it is said : 

" From Richmond the battery foUow^ed the fortunes of the field 
again until after the battle of Fredericksburg, when it settled 
down in winter-quarters at Bowling Green, Caroline county, 
Virginia. Here opportunity was afforded for the display of 
both the officer and the man. In the former capacity he was 
faithful, energetic, even ambitious, in the discharge of duty; in 
the latter he was genial and companionable, and by his good 
fellowship won the hearts of those under his authority, until, 
such was his popularity, scarcely a word of complaint was ever 
uttered as^ainst him. 

'' In illustration of his Christian temper the following incident 
may be related : Visiting the guard-house, on one occasion, as 
officer of the day, he found imprisoned there a former school- 
fellow and friend of his father. The man had known better days, 
but was now utterly degraded by long years of dissipation. 
Moved by the spirit of Him who came to ' proclaim liberty to 
the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are 
bound,' Lieutenant Bibb sat down by him, spoke kindly to him 
— * The first kind words,' said the poor fellow afterwards, 'that I 
had heard for many, many long years ' — gave him some tracts 
to read, and proposed his release on condition he would promise 
to make an effort to reform. The promise was given, and the 
soldier left the guard-house, and went forth to duty. 

" The war was near its close — the young officer had long since 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE*S ARMV. 447 

filled an honorable grave — when the bereaved father chanced, in 
passing through a hospital, to find this friend of his youth, who 
had come thither to die. But he was no longer a debauchee, 
for his eye kindled as he told of the solemn promise he had made 
and, by the grace of God, kept until then ; of the sustaining trust 
in the merits of the Redeemer, which filled him with peace and 
fitted him for the hour of death, now so near. All this he 
attributed, so far as human agency is concerned, to the labors 
and kindness of French Bibb, who, boy though he was, * talked 
to me,' said he, ' like a father.' 

"As he was borne from the field he said calmly to one of his 
comrades : '/ am zvilling to die for my country ; and I think it had 
better be myself tJian you! Lingering for some days in the 
hospital, he bore his sufferings with Christian fortitude, and 
gave indubitable proof that he died in the full assurance of the 
Christian faith. 

" His company, in formal meeting, gave expression to their 
feeling at the death of one, who — to use their ow^n words — ' dis- 
tinguished for the mild firmness of his bearing, the courtesy of 
all his intercourse, his attentiveness to every duty, his con- 
spicuous gallantry in action, had secured, to a rare extent for 
one so young, the admiration, the esteem, the love of the whole 
company.' The Sunday-school in which he had both been 
pupil and teacher, added its tribute to his memory, and thanked 
God that * there was so much to mitigate the bitterness of the 
sorrow in the hope of reunion in heaven.' And when the body 
was carried home to be buried, and the solemn toll of the church 
bell, whose gladder tones he had loved so well in life, summoned 
his friends to the funeral ceremonies, ' every place of business in 
the town was closed,' and the whole community united in giving 
honor to their young townsman, who, dying in his country's ser- 
vice, was no less a true soldier of the Cross. The funeral ser- 
vices were conducted by his pastor, Rev. Wm. F. Broaddus, D. D. 
On his coffin were laid the following lines, written by a lady 
friend for the burial hour : 

" ' Strew flowers on his coffin'd breast, 
His noble heart is now at rest; 
The young, the beautiful, the brave, 
We will not mourn his early grave. 
Faithfully his duty done. 
On earth a noble name he won; 
But, nobler far than earthly fame, 



44§ CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

He bore his Saviour's holy name. 
His early days to God were given, 
His record in the Books of Heaven. 
Then let him rest, till that glad sound 
Which calls the nations from the ground 
Full on his raptured ear is pour'd — 
' Come forth, ye blessed of the Lord.' " 

As French Bibb was borne from the field of Chancellorsvilte 
he was met by his most intimate friend, Willie M. Abell {son of A. 
Pope Abell, Esq., of Charlottesville), who belonged to the Fifth 
Virginia Cavalry. The two friends had not met before since 
they entered the army, and their meeting under the circumstances 
was so tender and touching that bronzed veterans who stood 
by with uncovered heads could not restrain their tears. But the 
two Christian boys could only grasp hands and exchange a few 
words of tender affection, as French Bibb was carried on to a 
few days of suffering, followed by his glorious end, and Willie 
Abell galloped on in the discharge of the soldier's stern duty. 
But these loving friends, who grew up in the same Sunday- 
school, were members of the same Church, and had so much 
in common, were not long divided. 

Willie Abell gallantly rode with his regiment, the Fifth Vir- 
ginia Cavalry, through the stirring campaigns which followed, 
proved himself a very hero in the fight, and at the same time 
illustrated the power and influence of the Gospel in his inter- 
course with his fellows, until he fell in the discharge of a del- 
icate and important duty, and left behind the name of a hero 
who, though a beardless boy, was as true to country and to duty 
as any plumed knight who figures in the world's history. 

The Charlottesville Chronicle thus told the story of his death, 
and Rev. Dr. J. C. Hiden, then post chaplain at Charlottesville, 
founded on it the following poem. 

" We heard a day or two since an incident related which we 
think should be published, as not only illustrating a fine trait of 
character in our young townsman, William M. Abell, who fell 
on the battle-field near Luray just a week ago, but as illustrating 
also the spirit of devotion to duty which actuates so widely all 
of our young men. 

*^Mr. Abell, who was acting-adjutant of his regiment (Fifth 
Virginia Cavalry), had gone forward to reconnoitre in advance of 
the skirmish line, and discovered that a squadron belonging to 
his regiment was in a position where it was about to be cut off, 



OR, RELIGION IN LEe's ARMY. 449 

of which it was unconscious. He started immediately to inform 
the colonel, that it might be withdrawn, and just at this moment 
he received the fatal shot through the body ; but in this condi- 
tion he galloped on, gave the information, saved the squadron, 
and then lay down to die. Such are the young men we are 
losing." 

" The hall has pierced his vitals, 

But still he grasps the rein ; 
The squadron is in danger, 

And he takes no note of pain; 
He bore up in the saddle, 

Warm blood his body laved ; 
But he spurs his faithful charger — 

The squadron vmst be saved. 

" He gallops through the carnage, 

No vi^avering — no pause ; 
And he pours his very lifeblood 

In Freedom's holy cause. 
His life is swiftly ebbing ; 

His strength is waning fast ; 
But courage and his message 

Sustain him to the last. 

"The body may surrender. 

The * mortal coil ' may fail, 
But his dauntless, untamed spirit 

Has never learned to quail ; 
His voice is raised ; he utters 
One piercing, eager cry : 
* Oh ! colonel, save the squadron ! * 
Then lays him down to die. 

" Time-honored Old Dominion ! 

What heroes hast thou borne ! 
Thy mother's eye is weeping, 

Thy lovely bosom torn ; 
But still thy grand ' Sic Semper* 

Defiantly shall wave ; 
Thy sons will bear it proudly 

To freedom or — the grave. 



"Charlottesville, October 5, 1864." 



J. C. H. 



A few days before Captain W. Willoughby Tebbs, of Company 

K, Second Virginia Regiment, was stricken down he wrote : 

** Providence still protects me, and if He sees fit, will carry me 

through safely ; if not, what better death could a man die, or 

29 



450 CHRIST IN THE CAMP ; 

could his friends wish for him, than to die in defence of such a 
cause ? " 

Louis Magoon Rogers, of Accomac county, was one of the 
gentlest, purest men I ever knew, and proved himself one of the 
most heroic soldiers the war produced. In letters from camp 
to his mother he said : 

** Do not be uneasy about me or the issue of the contest, 
which is evidently to be tremendous. God will care for me as 
well as for the issue of the approaching battle. He sees all 
things, past, present, future. Trust Him. 

" Soon after breakfast it is my custom to repair from head- 
quarters to my regiment, where we have a chaplain. He some- 
times preaches at a neighboring church. On such occasions, 
being left to my own resources, I go into the woods, to some 
secluded spot, where I read my Testament without interruption. 
Alone, I try to commend myself and you to the Creator. By 
meditation and study I try to withdraw my mind from the vex- 
ations of the world, and to concentrate my thoughts upon the 
vasty future, whose portals of joy or despair are so near to all 
of us. 

" Let us never forget, my dearest mother, that our Father 
above is not willing to do His children any' harm; and even if 
the body seems to suffer here in this world, may not the soul be 
happier in heaven on account of that very suffering? Oh, 
mother, let us trust Jesus. I pray to Him to enable me to do 
my duty in His name. I find, thank. God, that I am useful as a 
Christian. By holding prayer-meetings and Bible-class in my 
company the boys who are religious have greatly improved. 
They are much more thoughtful and attentive than they were 
when I first returned to my company." 

He fell in the heroic effort to save Petersburg in June, 1864; 
lingered until the 24th of August, and calmly passed away, mur- 
muring with his dying breath : " Father, into Thy hands I commit 
my spirit." 

The noble death of Louis Rogers was but the fulfilment of 
the prophecy of his noble life when I knew him at the univer- 
sity. 

General Henry A. Wise, in a letter to his father, pays this young 
soldier the following glowing tribute • 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 451 

" Richmond, Virginia, July 5, 1869. 

^^My Dear Sir: ... I first noticed Louis in a shady retreat 
from the camp at Chaffin, in the year 1862, reading his Bible to a 
comrade in the woods. His quiet, earnest manner in his pious 
work struck me. I had before noticed him passingly, as your 
son, for your sake ; but now that I saw his character, I began to 
notice him for his sake and mine too. I found that he had an 
exemplary influence with all the young men of his company. 
He could keep them orderly and obedient and on duty, while his 
officers could not. I soon found him not only moral, but intel- 
lectual ; not merely gifted with animal, but with the highest 
Christian courage. Humble, unpretending, modest in his de- 
meanor, he was too high to do wrong himself, and too firm to be 
tempted or misled by others. These qualities caused me in 1863 
to make him chief clerk of the adjutant-general's office of my 
staff He thus was drawn near and made intimate with me. His 
whole life and conduct were those of duty to God and his com- 
mand in the army. His company did never so well as when he 
was with it. He was the fittest man in it for its captaincy, and 
repeatedly urged me to send him back to the ranks. For months 
I could not spare him. When I left head-quarters of camp I 
took him with me. He was a daily example of goodness and 
usefulness, and I never knew him to blunder, even, much less 
be guilty of a fault". His companionship as a Christian was a 
blessing to me. He never obtruded a homily, yet his soft, meek, 
deprecatory look would often allay a passion or stay a profane 
word. He was as quick as lightning to perceive, yet so consci- 
entious that he never assumed to act without full intelligence of 
what he was to do. I could trust him as well absent as present, 
and he never failed me. 

"At last he could not be withheld longer from his company, 
and especially after being promoted to the post of honor — color- 
bearer of his regiment, with rank of lieutenant. He fell at that 
post, flag in hand, on the 17th of June, 1864, gloriously, while 
his regiment was forced back and his gallant major. Hill, lost an 
arm in saving his person and his flag from the enemy. He 
lingered feebly in the hospital until his colonel took him to his 
house in Goochland, where he was fondly nursed as by a father 
and mother. Alas ! he was too feeble when struck to recover 
from the blow. A brighter, braver, better soul never took flight 
from earth to heaven, from time to eternity. I would write on 
the tablet of his tomb : 



452 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

" Lieutenant Louis Rogers, Jr. 

" His example taught that the best soldier of the Captain of Salvation made the 
best soldier of the Confederate camps. His eternal parole is that of the Prince of 
Peace. 

" Your friend, 

" Henry A. Wise. 

"To George S. Rogers, Esq." 

Hon. D. B. Lucas has written a deeply interesting sketch of 
John V. Bcall^ Acting Master of the Confederate Navy, who w^s 
hung under sentence of a court-martial February 24, 1865, and 
whose execution, Mr. Lucas clearly shows, was without the 
shadow of law or justice. Mr. Lucas thus describes his death: 

" Thus we find Beall in Fort Columbus, face to face with his 
doom, all hope extinguished, every avenue of mercy or escape 
closed. His friends told him there was still a slight gleam of 
hope. He responded that he himself entertained none, nor would 
exchange, he declared, the penalty of death for the living death 
of perpetual or indefinite imprisonment; he preferred an open 
grave to a vault. 

" General Dix allowed his friends to visit him freely. Min- 
isters of his own Church brought him the holy unction of their 
message, and those of other denominations called on similar 
errands. The Rev. Joshua Van Dyke visited him on the day 
before his execution and writes : * I found him to be all that you 
had described him, and much more. He was confined in a nar- 
row and gloomy cell, with a lamp burning at mid-day ; but he 
received me with as much ease as if he were in his own parlor, 
and his conversation revealed at every turn the gentleman, the 
scholar and the Christian. There was no bravado, no strained 
heroism, no excitement in his words or manner, but a quiet trust 
in God, and a composure in view of death such as I have read of, 
but never beheld to the same degree before. He introduced the 
subject of his approaching end himself, saying that while he did 
not pretend to be indifferent to life, the mode in which he was to 
leave it had no terrors or ignominy for him ; he could go to 
heaven through the grace of Christ as well from the gallows as 
from the battle-field, or his own bed ; he died in defence of what 
he believed to be right ; and so far as the particular things for 
which he was to be executed were concerned, he had no confes- 
sion to make or repentance to exercise. He did not use one 
bitter or angry expression towards his enemies, but calmly de- 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 453 

clared his conviction that he was to be executed contrary to 
the laws of civiHzed warfare. He accepted his doom as the will 
of God; 

" Dr. Weston, chaplain of the Seventh New York Regiment, 
visited him on the i8th of February, the day whence a respite 
deferred his execution to the 24th of the same month, and Beall 
received him ' with marked courtesy.' He found him provided 
with a Bible, but without a prayer-book. Yet (as he tells us in 
his diary), as early as the 29th of December, the doorman of the 
police head-quarters had bought him * a Book of Common 
Prayer, for ;^i.oo.' What, then, had become of it, that on the 
morning first appointed for his execution he had no prayer- 
book ? It is almost too sadly sacred to relate. He had sent it, 
a gift of life from the hands of death, to his betrothed ! 

" His Bible had been obtained in prison ; upon opening it at 
random his eyes fell first upon these sublime verses : ' For our 
light affliction, which is but for the moment, worketh for us a 
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look 
not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not 
seen : for the things which are seen are temporal, while the 
things which are not seen are eternal.' He had written on the 
margin several hymns — old hymns, which stand in relation to 
the prayer-book collection as the essential oil to the remainder 
of the plant. 

" The morning of the 24th of February opened fairly. Mr. 
Ritchie had spent the preceding night in the fort, and until mid- 
night had remained in the cell with Beall. On Wednesday night 
he had slept soundly, and happy dreams of home and childhood 
had visited him. But on Thursday night the toothache, to 
which he was subject, and with which he was suffering when 
arrested, attacked him again, and to some extent robbed him of 
his last night on earth. He would have liked some laudanum, 
he said, to still the pain, but declined to ask for it for fear of 
being misunderstood. Nothing, however, disturbed the tran- 
quillity of his soul. 

** The execution was ordered between twelve and two. Messrs. 
McClure and Ritchie were left in the cell with the prisoner alone 
uninterruptedly for about an hour. This time was spent in calm, 
quiet, pleasant conversation. Old friends were inquired after, old 
scenes recalled, and the circumstances connected with his own 
participation in the raid on Lake Erie, and on the Dunkirk and 



454 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

Buffalo Railway, gone over. He spoke of his approaching death, 
and gave directions for the disposition of his body. He dictated 
his own epitaph, which was to be : * Died in defence of his 
country.' 

''As the hour waned, McClure looked at his watch. Beall 
noticed the movement, smiled, and inquired the hour. It was 
twelve o'clock. The execution, by the order, was to take place 
between twelve and two. His voyage was, therefore, drawing 
rapidly to a close. The sails could be seen in heaven coming up 
from the under-world. Destiny was making the last entry in the 
log-book of life. The harbor and the steeples of the city were 
in sight. 

" Very soon Major Coggswell came in to bid his prisoner fare- 
well. This officer himself had once been held in Richmond as 
a hostage, with the sword of Damocles above him, and he could, 
therefore, sympathize with a soldier under similarly trying cir- 
cumstances. Like all around him, also, he had been drawn into 
the magnetic circle of Beall's friendship. 

"After partaking of some nourishment, which Dr. Weston and 
Mr. McClure shared with him, Beall was left alone with his 
spiritual adviser. After him, the officers of the law entered to 
make the customary preparations. While the officers were per- 
forming their mournful duty, Beall addressed them : 'All I ask,' 
said he, ' is that there be no unnecessary consumption of time in 
the execution ; for, after all, it will be to me but a mere muscular 
effort.' 

" His friends returned to find him hooded, and a black mantle 
thrown over his shoulders. Mr. McClure, not observing that his 
hands were fastened behind him, offered his hand. ' I cannot 
shake hands,' said he, smiling; ' I am pinioned.' 

" He had dressed himself, upon this morning, with unusual 
neatness. His linen was white and clean, and his black silk 
cravat was gracefully tied beneath a rolling collar. He wore a 
new pair of dog-skin gloves of saffron color. Just the extremi- 
ties of his fingers protruded from the blue military cloth cape 
thrown over his shoulders, which entirely concealed the manacles 
on his wrists, and the noose about his neck. Upon his head was 
placed the fatal cap, the blackness of which heightened by con- 
trast the whiteness of the martyr-face beneath it. This face, 
naturally colorless, was blanched by long and solitary confine- 
ment. It was smooth, white, and almost transparently clear. 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 455 

The eyes, whose dulness or suffusion always betrays weeping, 
nervous agitation, or a sleepless night, were as clear, bright, and 
calm as an infant's. As he stepped from the threshold of his 
cell they began to beam, until they shone with an unusual and 
unearthly splendor. 

"As he passed out, he turned to Messrs. McClure and Ritchie 
and said : ' Good-bye, boys ; I die in the hope of a resurrection, 
and in defence of my country !'.... 

" Again the march is resumed, and the victim passes into the 
hollow square around the scaffold. Before stepping upon it, he 
turns with a smile to Dr. Weston, and remarks: *As some 
author has said, we may be as near God on the scaffold as else- 
where.' He may be thinking of the sainted Abbot of Aquila, 
' who wished to be buried under a gallows, and it was done.' 

" Mounting to the platform, the prisoner takes his seat upon 
the chair immediately under the fatal rope. The adjutant of the 
post commences to read the charges, specifications, and the 
orders of General Dix for his execution. Beall, little dreaming 
of the test to which he is to be subjected, rises respectfully when 
the reading is commenced. But finding that, instead of the last 
and briefest order for his execution, the whole prolix and un- 
soldierly pronunciamento of General Dix is to be gone through 
with, he deliberately draws up a chair with his foot, and resumes 
his seat. When he hears himself designated as a citizen of the 
* insurgent State of Virginia,' his smile grows intensely sad and 
significant. He sees now the men before him no longer as his 
own executioners only, but as the executioners of a sovereign 
State — his own beloved Virginia ; and he smiles not in derision, 
but in protest and remonstrance. At the point where the gen- 
eral denounces his heroic attempt to rescue three thousand 
fellow-soldiers as ' piracy,' he again smiles ; but when he is ac- 
cused, as a * guerilla,' of attempting * to destroy the lives and 
property of peaceable and unoffending inhabitants,' he mourn- 
fully shakes his head in denial. Finally, when the adjutant 
reaches the concluding passage of the order, in which General 
Dix descants thus : ' The major-general commanding feels that 
a want of firmness and inflexibility on his part, in executing the 
sentence of death in such a case, would be an offence against the 
outraged civilization and humanity of the age,' the reporters de- 
clare that ' the prisoner seems to be reminded of some amusing 
incident in his military experience.' The truth is, Beall hears in 



456 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

the hypocritical cant of General Dix that officer's self-condemna- 
tion, and knows that every breath which the commanding general 
draws is in default of the penalty which he himself attaches to 
the violation of the laws of civilized warfare. Even the exe- 
cutioner grows impatient, and cannot endure this ordeal : ' Cut 
it short ! cut it short ! ' cries he ; * the captain wishes to be swung 
off quick ! ' The crowd murmurs, and the reporters call his 
eagerness to perform his office * brutality.' They mistake — he 
means it in kindness. 

" The reading over, Beall promptly rises and announces his 
readiness. Then, reverently turning to Dr. Weston, he bows his 
head, while over him falls from the lips of the minister, like a 
spotless mantle, the benediction of the Church's ritual : * The 
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellow- 
ship of the Holy Spirit be with you and sustain you ! ' 

" His manner throughout has been one of respectful attention. 
But when he mounts the scaffold, and sits down under the fatal 
coil, he turns his back upon the adjutant while he is reading, and 
faces in the opposite direction. This attitude he does not change. 
What does it mean ? His face is turned upon his own beloved 
South. Far over waters, mountains, valleys, and intervening 
hills, through the deep azure sky travel his thoughts to the land 
of chivalrous deeds and'political ideas which, rightly understood, 
gather in their scope the eternal years of God's own truth, and 
for which no man should hesitate to die. As the martyr sets his 
face towards Jerusalem, so this hero, dying for the faith of his 
fathers, turns his face upon the South. Thus he faces when the 
last duty save that of the executioner is performed. The provost 
marshal asks him whether he has anything to say. Turning 
upon the officer of the day, he speaks in a calm, firm voice : * I 
protest against the execution of this sentence. It is a murder ! 
I die in the service and defence of my country ! I have nothing 
more to say.' 

"A moment after a sword-flash is seen behind him, which is 
the signal to the executioner, and the hero's soul is free. 

" Thus died, in the thirty-first year of his age, on the scaffold, 
John Yates Beall. 

" His body, after death, was given to his two faithful friends, 
whose devotion had halted at no sacrifice in their efforts to save 
his life, and they laid it privately to rest in Greenwood Cemetery, 
near New York city. 



457 

" His death-scene, as described not alone by his friends who 
were present, and by the letters to his family and myself of 
James T. Brady, Esq., and Dr. Weston, but as reported by his 
enemies, was one of the sublimest spectacles in history. It ex- 
hibited courage without bravado, tenderness without weakness, 
resignation without stoicism, a protest against what he con- 
sidered a murder without resentment against the murderers. It 
united to ease, dignity; to manliness, a sense of responsibility; 
composure to freedom. It combined at once firmness, self-pos- 
session, inflexibility, patience, intellectuality, fortitude, and cheer- 
fulness. It was all that his friends could hope, or Christianity 
demand ; all that his country could be proud of in chivalry, or 
his enemies dread in the example of martyrdom." 

I have spoken of General jf. E. B. Stuart, ** the flower of cava- 
liers," who said to President Davis, who stood at his dying bed- 
side : *' If it were God's will, I should like to live longer and 
serve my country. If I must die, I should like to see my wife 
first; but if it is His will that I die now, I am ready and willing 
to go if God and my country think that I have fulfilled my des- 
tiny and done my duty." 

Colonel Wm. JoJinson Pegrani — " Willie Pegram, the boy ar- 
tillerist," we used to call him — left the University of Virginia in 
April, 1 86 1, at the age of nineteen, and enlisted as a private in 
an artillery company, but, by superb courage and splendid skill, 
rose to be colonel of artillery and the idol of the whole army, 
when he fell on that ill-fated day at Five Forks which caused 
the breaking of Lee's lines and the fall of the Confederacy. 

In an every way admirable sketch of him, written by his 
adjutant and intimate friend. Captain W. Gordon McCabe, it is 
said of him, while in winter-quarters near Fredericksburg in 
1862-63 : 

" He spent the winter much as he had done the last, attending 
to the administration of affairs in camp and busying himself in 
promoting the comfort of his men. His letters to his family at 
this time breathe the constant prayer that he may be enabled to 
do his duty by his men as a Christian and a good officer. One 
of his first cares in winter-quarters was to assemble the men and 
say a few words to them concerning the importance of building 
a chapel and holding regular prayer-meetings. All these ser- 
vices he himself attended with earnest pleasure ; and it was a 
common sight to see him sitting among his men in the rude log- 



458 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

chapel, bowing his young head reverently in prayer, or singing 
from the same hymn-book with some weather-beaten private 
from whom he had ever exacted strictest military obedience. 
His discipline, indeed, was that w'hich belongs to long-estab- 
ished armies. He justly considered that it was mercy in the 
end to punish every violation of duty, and he knew that men do 
not grow restive under discipline the sternest at the hands of 
officers who lead well in action. He performed with soldierly 
exactness every duty pertaining to his own position, and held 
officers and men to a rigid accountability. His closest personal 
friends ceased to look for any deviation in their favor from his 
strict enforcement of the regulations. For four years he main- 
tained such discipline, and with notable results. Not only in 
his lifetime were his men ever ready, nay eager, to meet the 
enemy, but when he himself had fallen in action, the old bat- 
talion followed its officers, some through their very homes, to 
the plains of Appomattox, with ranks intact, save from casualties 
of fight. 

" When he had been recommended for promotion to the com- 
mand of an infantry brigade (which General Lee declined to do, 
on the ground that he * could not be spared from the artillery,' 
and made him instead colonel of artillery, which is recognized as 
really a higher rank than brigadier of infantry), he thus wrote to 
his mother: 

" ' Now, my dear mother, you must not think that I am con- 
ceited, and that I rely on my own ability, if I get this position 
and take it. I would not accept the position, but I believe the 
maxim given me by General Dabney Maury to be the proper 
one for a soldier to follow : " Never to seek promotion, and 
never to refuse it,'but leave it to your superiors to judge of 
you." .... If I felt that it was from my own merit, I should 
be afraid to go again on the battle-field. I hope sincerely that 
before I am promoted to that grade, if it is to be done, brother 
will be made major-general ; for, otherwise, I shall not believe 
that they ever promote according to merit. Do not be disap- 
pointed if General Lee refuses to have me promoted. He will 
do whatever is for the good X)f the service, and I had rather be 
in the ranks than have him do otherwise. Besides, I believe 
that God rules in small affairs as in great. He orders all things 
for the best. If I do get it, I will take it with fear and trem- 
bling, trusting to God's guidance and mercy, and constantly 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 459 

praying to Him for help who has been so merciful to me a 
sinner.' 

" On the death of his gallant brother, General John Pegram, 
who fell in the battle of Hatcher's Run, he thus wrote to a com- 
rade in the army : 

" ' Words cannot express the grief this blow has brought upon 
us all. We can only thank God that He did not take him from 
this world until he had learned to look above it. While we who 
are left behind can never cease to mourn for one who was so 
dear to us, we cannot but feel grateful that his death came to 
him in such a manner — the manner in which he always wished 
to die ; and above all we cannot but feel grateful for the belief 
that he is enjoying eternal rest and happiness now, and for the 
hope that we may be united with him hereafter.' The next week 
he returned to the army. 

" The days grew darker and still more dark for ' the cause,* and 
like_a true soldier he put aside his own grief to speak cheering 
words to those about him. In Richmond he had heard much talk 
in regard to the necessity of withdrawing from Virginia. His 
love for his State was such as God has implanted in the hearts of 
all true Virginians ; and it was a pang to him even to contemplate 
surrendering the battle-scarred bosom of the ' Old Mother ' to 
the petty tyrannies of those who hated and feared her. * I 
would rather die,' he said slowly, * than see Virginia given up, 
even for three months ; but we'll all follow the battle-flag any- 
where' 

" On the 1st day of April, just as the earth was beginning once 
more to grow glad with flowers, came to him the last of many 
fights. The brilliant artillerist, the pride of his corps, who 
during four years of active service had never lost a gun, was to 
fall at * Five Forks,' with all his wounds in front, fighting such 
odds as had never yet confronted him. For two days previous 
to the battle he had undergone immense fatigue : in the saddle 
day and night, with slight intermission, for forty-eight hours; 
wet, hungry, no blankets ; engaging almost continually the 
cavalry of the enemy. On the very morning of the fight his 
breakfast consisted of a handful of parched corn, which he gener- 
ously shared with a comrade. In the centre of the line of battle 
were posted one gun from his own battalion, commanded by 
Lieutenant Hollis (EUett's Battery), and a section from Braxton's 
Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Early. Further to the 



460 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

right, sweeping the GilHam field, were the remaining three guns 
of Ellett's Battery. 

" There had been during the morning some sharp skirmishing 
with the enemy, but everything had grown quiet towards mid- 
day, and old soldiers doubted whether there would be any gen- 
eral engagement. Pegram, wearied down by fatigue, was sleep- 
ing soundly among the guns on the right, when sudden, ripping 
volleys of musketry from the centre told him that the enemy were 
charging his batteries. He instantly jumped into his saddle, and 
rode at full speed down the line of battle to his guns. Lieuten- 
ants Hollis and Early were using double canister at close range, 
and their cannoneers were serving their pieces in a manner beyond 
all praise. Within tJiirty yards of the guns the dense columns of 
the enemy were staggering under their rapid fire. Pegram rode 
in, speaking cheerily to the men, a sweet serenity on his boyish 
face, but the old light of battle shining in his eyes. ' Fire your 
canister low, men ! ' he shouted, as the blue lines surged still 
nearer to the heated guns. It was his last order on a field of battle. 
Suddenly he reeled and fell from his saddle. Small wonder that 
he was first to fall. The infantry were lying down, by order, 
firing over a low * curtain ' which they had hastily thrown up ; 
he was sitting on his white horse in the front line of battle, cheer- 
ing and encouraging his men. He had received his mortal wound, 
and knew it. * Tell my mother and sisters,' he said firmly, ' that 
I commend them to God's protection. It will be a great blow to 
them at home to lose me so soon after " brother ; " but for 
myself, I am ready. I have done my duty and now I turn to 
my Saviour.' He knew nothing of the bitter defeat. When 
victory no longer perched on the battle-flag of his old battalion, 
he had received his last promotion at the hands of the great 
Captain. He met a soldier's death, and had but a soldier's burial. 
Wrapped carefully in a coarse blanket he was laid to rest in the 
bosom of his mother State, Virginia. 

** Brief as was his life, he had been for six years a devoted 
member of the Episcopal Church ; and a comrade read at his 
grave her grand and solemn ritual for the dead. 

*' He now sleeps at Hollywood, beside his knightly brother, 
on a spot sloping to the ever-murmuring James, and overlook- 
ing that beautiful city in whose defence both of them so often 
went forth to battle, counting their lives a worthless thing. 

" Thus passed away * this incomparable young man/ in the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE's ARMY. 461 

twenty-fourth year of his age. It was his lot to be tried in great 
events, and his fortune to be equal to the trial. In his boyhood 
he had nourished noble ambitions, in his young manhood he 
had won a fame greater than his modest nature ever dreamed, 
and, at last, there was accorded him on the field of battle the 
death counted sweet and honorable." 

And thus I might go on and quote by the page the dying 
words of these dying heroes which are indeed " apples of gold in 
pictures of silver," and show that they were taught by God's 
Spirit how to live and how to die. But these must now suffice. 

But I would cheerfully leave this whole question of the perma- 
nent moral and religious influence of our army revivals to the 
conduct of the *' men who wore the gray " since the war ; for 
while thousands slept in soldiers' graves, many came back to re- 
sume their old places, or rather to make for themselves new 
places in business and social circles. These men were exposed 
to some peculiar temptations at the close of the war, and it 
would not have been strange if they had entered upon a career 
of lawlessness which would have made the condition of our 
unhappy South far worse than it was. 

After four years' absence from any industrial pursuit, with 
fondly cherished hopes all blighted, plans all frustrated, fortunes 
swept away, and avenues of business all closed, they returned to 
their desolated homes. Alas ! in many instances blackened 
ruins marked the spot of their once happy homes, and there 
were loved ones to tell tales of outrage and wrong. which men 
of Anglo-Saxon blood have not been wont to hear unmoved. 

To make matters worse (under the then ayowed purpose of 
Andrew Johnson to " make treason odious ") there were stationed 
in every county squads of " blue coats," provost marshals and 
freedman's bureau agents, who were not always discreet, and not 
unfrequently did or said things well calculated to provoke 
serious collisions between these returned soldiers and them- 
selves, or the newly emancipated negroes. Then followed the 
" carpet-bag " and " negro rule " of the Southern States, which 
is a blot upon our history, at which every true American should 
blush, and concerning which Dr. John A. Broadus so well said 
at an educational banquet in Brooklyn four years after the war : 
" You brethren at the North think that you have a great deal 
for which to forgive the South for the four years of war. I will 
not discuss that. But I tell you, brethren, we of the South have 



462 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

a great deal for which to forgive the North for the four years 
since the war!' 

And yet, despite all of these temptations to a different course, 
I affirm (from a full knowledge of the facts, for important duties 
have required me to travel extensively in all of the Southern 
States and to see and know the Confederate soldiers), that, as a 
a rule, these men, instead of idly sitting down to rake in the 
ashes of destroyed hopes and ruined fortunes, have taken off 
their coats and gone to work in the corn, cotton and tobacco 
fields ; in the offices, shops, stores, founderies and factories ; on 
the railways, in the mines, and in every place where honest toil 
can earn a support. I know scores of young men who were 
raised in the lap of affluence, and had hardly ever done a day's 
work, whom the war found idling their time in dressing-gown 
and velvet slippers, the pets of " society," but who made brave, 
patient soldiers, and who since the war have shown their man- 
hood by honest, manly work. 

A great deal has been written about " the New South " and its 
wonderful prosperity, and surely it is a cause of devout thankful- 
ness to know that at last large sections of our once desolated 
Southern land are beginning to " bloom and blossom as the 
rose." But it is due alike to the truth of history and to these 
men to say that this prosperity has been brought about, not so 
much by foreign immigration or foreign capital (though we 
cheerfully acknowledge what these have done), as by the pluck, 
energy, ski-ll and patient industry — the brains and brawn — of the 
" Men in Gray " and the boys they have reared. The men who 
have managed our railways, mines, furnaces, founderies, factories 
and great business enterprises — who have filled our offices. State 
and Federal, since they have been allowed to do so — who have 
been our leading lawyers, physicians, professors, engineers, edi- 
tors, preachers, mechanics, etc., etc. — have been the " men who 
wore the gray." There are eighty-three Confederate soldiers in 
the United States Senate and House of Representatives to-day, 
and every gubernatorial chair from Maryland to Texas, and 
from Virginia to Missouri, has been, as a rule, filled by a Con- 
federate soldier. I have been struck with the fact that, in attend- 
ing Confederate reunions in all of the States of the late Confed- 
eracy, I have found these men the leaders of the States in politics, 
business, social and religious movements. 

It is a significant fact that not only the leading pulpits of the 



OR, RELIGION IN LEE*S AR^^\^ 46S 

South, in all of the denominations, are filled by Confederate sol- 
diers, but that this is true of quite a number of prominent pulpits 
at the North. 

In 1867 I addressed letters to all of the college presidents, 
and many of the leading pastors at the South, in order to ascer- 
tain how far our returned soldiers were maintaining their Chris- 
tian profession, and what proportion of them were preparing for 
the Gospel ministr}^ 

The replies were in the highest degree satisfactory and grati- 
fying;, showincT that about four-fifths of the Christian students of 
our colleges had been in the army, and that a large proportion 
of them had found Christ in the camp — that nine-tenths of the 
candidates for the ministr}^ had determined to preach while in 
the army — and nearly all of the army converts were maintaining 
their profession, many of them pillars in the Churches. 

If the personal allusion may be pardoned, I will say that I have 
taken especial pains — by correspondence, by inquiries of pastors, 
and by personal interviews with many of them, as I have trav- 
elled in every State from Mar^dand to Texas — to ascertain the 
after-lives of the four hundred and ten soldiers whom I baptized 
in the army, and I have heard of only tJiree (there were doubtless 
others) who have gone back fo the world. 

One pastor of a leading Church in the south-west said to me : 
" I am indebted to you for baptizing in the army the best and 
most efficient men in my Church." 

I had a tender meeting several years ago with a delegate from 
Texas to the Southern Baptist Convention at Baltimore, whom I 
had baptized on the Rapidan in August, 1863, and I might give 
a number of touching incidents concerning these men whom I 
meet all over the South. 

In the summer of 1865 I was travelling one day along a coun- 
try road in Virginia, when I saw a young man plowing in the 
field, guiding the plow with one hand, while an empty sleeve 
hung at his side. I know not how^ others ma)- feel about it, but 
for myself I never see the empty sleeve or halting gait of the 
true Confederate soldier that I- do not instinctively take off my 
hat in profound respect for the man — I never pass his " vocal 
grave " without desiring to pause and cast at least one little 
violet upon it — and I hope never to see the day when I shall 
not count it a privilege to share with him, or with his widow or 
orphan, the last crust of bread that a good Providence shall give 



464 CHRIST IN THE CAMP; 

me. And so I said to the friend who was with me : " We must 
stop. I must speak to that young man." 

When he drew near, singing merrily at his work, I recognized 
him as a young man whom I had baptized in the army. I knew 
his history. Raised in the lap of luxury he had resisted its 
temptations, and when the war broke out he was about to bear 
off the highest honors of one of our colleges, and seemed des- 
tined to shine in his chosen profession, for which his tastes and 
talents fitted him. He was one of the first to step to the front 
when Virginia called on her sons to rally to her defence, and 
was one of the best of her noble soldiers. 

To see him thus, then, his hopes blighted, his fortune wrecked, 
and his body maimed for life, deeply touched my heart, and my 
words of greeting and sympathy were right warm. I shall never 
forget how the noble fellow, straightening himself up, replied, 
with a proud smile : ** Oh, Brother Jones, that is all right. / 
tliaiik God that I have one arm left and an opportunity to use it for 
the support of those I love'' If my voice could reach all the 
young men of the South to-day, I would ring in their ears the 
words of that maimed hero, and would beg them to imitate the 
example of our returned Confederate soldiers, who, as a rule, 
went to work with an energy and patient industry which have 
made them a real power in the land to-day. 

I recollect that when, several months after, I met Gneeral Lee 
in Lexington, when he came to take charge of Washington Col- 
lege, and he asked me, as he frequently did : " How are our old 
soldiers getting on these hard times ? " I related to him, among 
others, the above incident. The old chieftain's face flushed, his 
eyes filled with tears, and he said : " It is just like them, sir ! It 
is just like my poor boys ! They were the noblest fellows that 
the sun ever shone upon." And so I believe they were. 

And now my task is done. If my readers have derived half 
the pleasure from the perusal of this narrative that I have done 
in reviving these hallowed scenes and recalling these precious 
memories — in living over again the days when the dark clouds 
of war were illumined with tlie sunshine of the Redeemer's smile — 
then I shall be more than satisfied. 

And surely Christian men of every section and of every creed 
will unite in thanking God that Christ was in the camps of Lee's 
army with such wonderful power to save, and that out of that 
terrible war God brought such rich blessings. 




" I THANK GOD THAT I HAVE ONE ARM LEFT, AND AN OPPORTUNITY OF 
USING IT FOR THE SUPPORT OF THOSE I LOVE." 
' Christ in the Camp."— Page 464. 



APPENDIX. 



LETTERS FROM OUR ARMY WORKERS. 



FROM a large number of letters received, in response to circulars sent out soon 
after the war, I select the following as either containing new matter, or as 
supplementing and corroborating statements made in the body of the book. They 
were personal letters not intended for publication, and yet I beg that the writers 
will excuse the liberty I take in publishing them in the form in which they were 
written, as I can thus give a clearer view of the interesting and important matters 
of which they treat. I give them without comment of my own. 

\^From Rev. A. C. Hopkins, of the Presbyterian Church, Chaplain Second Virginia 
Infantry, and Missionary Chaplain to Gordon'' s Divisiori.'] 

" Charlestown, West Virginia, March 22, 1867. 

''^Dear Brother yones : Upon reflection I find myself so often the theme of my 
remark that I have determined to waive modesty with you and write a memorial 
of- my own operations as my part of the history of religion in the ' Stonewall Bri- 
gade ' — as these notes are only for your eyes, I may be more pardonable, and more 
candid. 

"My commission as chaplain Second Virginia Infantry dates from May 3, 1862. 
Exiled voluntarily from my home in Martinsburg, I sought an entrance into the 
army; but the low repute in which I had discovered the chaplaincy was held, de- 
terred me from seeking an appointment for some time. The field-officers of Second 
Virginia directed Adjutant R. W. Hunter to invite me to their command, which I 
overtook between McDowell and Franklin. I then learned that application had 
been forwarded for my commission, which resulted as above-mentioned. 

" The brigade under Brigadier-General Charles S. Winder was composed of five 
Virginia regiments, viz. : Second, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-seventh and Thirty- 
third. The field-officers of the Second were Colonel J. W. Allen, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Lawson Botls and Major Frank Jones, all useful members of the Episcopal 
Church — one of whom had, by letter, authorized me, as I came through Richmond, 
to invest for him $50 in religious reading-matter for use of the regiments. 

" Rev. E. P. Walton (Baptist) was chaplain to Fifth, and Rev. J. M. Grandin 
(Methodist) to Thirty-third Regiment. Rev. McVeigh (now for some time a 
prisoner) had been chaplain to Second, but his term of commission having ex- 
pired under the previous organization of the command, the regiment, as organized 
in April preceding, was declared vacant ; hence my assignment. 

" The spring campaign, characterized by rapidity, fighting and fatigue, deprived 
chaplains of much opportunity for ministerial work, except for the wounded on the 
battle-field. By the prompt invitations of our field-officers, I held nightly meetings 
of prayer for the regiment at our head-quarters; and, whenever campaigning did 
not prevent, preached once or more on Sabbath. The number of professing Chris- 

30 (465) 



466 APPENDIX. 

tians in the regiment was distressingly small ; the prevailing religious sentiment was 
Episcopal. Besides the field-ofificers, and adjutant, who was Presbyterian, I could 
find but three officers, commissioned or non-commissioned, who belonged to any 
Church. One of these was a captain, and one was lieutenant, bofh Episcopal, and 
one a sergeant (Baptist). There were some communicants, of course, among the 
men of the regiment, whose strength was something upwards of four hundred, I 
think. 

" One thing soon struck me ; there seemed to be no affiliation among chaplains. 
It was more than three months after my attachment to the brigade before I met 
one of its chaplains, and then almost as per force a non-professing colonel called 
one up, and introduced us, saying emphatically, ' If you don't know each other, you 
should.' 

" I commenced with the determination of sharing the sufferings, marches and 
perils of those for whose good I labored. This soon discovered itself to be the 
proper course ; for mingling with men under all conditions gave 'me soon their friend- 
ship and pointed my preaching ; while opportunities for extending acquaintance be- 
yond my own command were gained and improved. An illustration of this oc- 
curred at the battle of Malvern Hill, when the colonel and lieutenant-colonel of an- 
other regiment came to mine (saying they knew they would find vie) to get me to 
go and minister to one of their command who was badly wounded, although they 
had a chaplain. 

" The campaign below Richmond was very fatiguing ; marching all day in the 
hot sun and up all night caring for the wounded, with our faithful surgeons, I be- 
came exhausted. Attempting to preach in the hot shade of some pines as all lay 
in line of battle under the gunboats at Harrison's Landing, I fainted, but continued 
with the troops till our return to vicinity of Mechanicsville, when I obtained a sick- 
leave for ten days. During these the corps moved back to the vicinity of Gordons- 
ville, and the other chaplains instituted some daily public services. On my return 
I held frequent services ; but was greatly discouraged by the loss at Cold Harbor of 
our colonel and major. 

" At this point Rev. Mr. Tebbs (Methodist) joined the Fourth Regiment as chap- 
lain ; but camp was soon broken up for the fall campaign. There was no general 
religious interest in the brigade, and I felt discouraged. We had not more than 
begun to realize the magnitude or opportunity of our work. 

" The great Second Manassas battle came. It was joined on Thursday evening, 
when many of our noblest men fell, killed or wounded. Among the mortally 
wounded was my own loved Colonel Botts, who had become to me almost as a 
brother. After spending Thursday night sleeplessly in ministering to sick, 
and that anxious Friday which none will forget, August 29, I repaired to 
the regiment for some rest Friday night. Colonel Baylor, of the Fifth, 
now commanding brigade, exhausted by fatigue and care, was stretched on 
the ground near a tree, and I threw myself upon the earth near another, 
and was falling to sleep. But the colonel called and inquired if I felt too 
tired to conduct a prayer-meeting — said that he felt desirous of expressing his grati- 
tude to God for sparing his life, and he wished the brigade to join him in their 
behalf. Two nights before he had requested the chaplains to summon their regi- 
ments to worship, during a brief halt ; and, notwithstanding all this, he was not a 
member of the Church. Of course I acceded to this touching appeal ; I could not 
be too weary for such a service. Notice was given, and many poor fellows left 
their cooking to unite in the solemn service. Poague's and Carpenter's Batteries, 
who hitherto belonged to the brigade, were largely represented. Captain Hugh A. 
White, of the Fourth, and others led in prayer at my request, and a most solemn 
meeting we all enjoyed — for the last time it proved to many. The next evening's 
sun set upon the corpses of the two noble and generous men, Baylor and White, as 



APPENDIX. 467 

they lay not far apart upon that gory field. I would express the hope that their 
mingled service is continued in heaven. When we left Frederick City for the 
movement against Harper's Ferry, our regiment being at the head of column, I 
saw General Jackson and mentioned to him this among other circumstances in 
Colonel Baylor's last weeks ; he seemed greatly delighted, and said : ' I am glad of 
it; I hope he died a Christian; he needed only Christianity to make him a model 
man ; he was a fine officer too, as was seen by his keeping up his regiment.' 

"While we lay about Bunker Hill in the fall of 1862, a work of grace was be- 
gun in the army; but our brigade seemed still unblest. Dr. Stiles visited us and 
preached. A good many began to awaken. Our division was now frequently 
shifted from position to position previous to crossing the mountains. Still the doc- 
tor preached, as he had opportunity, to large and interested audiences, and finally a 
goodly number made hopeful profession of conversion. But the greatest benefit 
that I have ever felt from those associations and instructions of our venerable 
brother, was the impulse imparted to chaplams. That earnest man of God made 
us ashamed of ourselves. I fairly felt ashamed to give him an opportunity at me ; 
he talked so plainly of my responsibility ; showed me so clearly how many oppor- 
tunities I was thoughtlessly despising; what great responsibility rested on me. I 
shook the dust from my feet and went to work with new zeal. This seemed to be 
the case with us all. 

" Colonel , of the Regiment, was now commanding the 

brigade. His notorious profanity made him rather a terror to chaplains; but he 
was really generous and kind-hearted. After becoming acquainted he gave me the 
honorable title of ' my elder,' and was always ready to grant any facilities I ever 
requested for furthering my discharge of duties. At this time he cheerfully ex- 
empted men from military duty for erecting our earthen candlesticks, beautifying 
our native church, and attendance upon worship. We hoped much good was 
done ; but a season of rest had engendered also many vices, and robbery had be- 
come common in the vicinity of the army. In one instance a soldier had been 
murdered by another between the spring and the camp of the Thirty-third Virginia 
for a small sum of money. 

" While we lay near Winchester in the latter part of November, I received a 
message from General Jackson, through Lieutenant James P. Smith, his adjutant, 
requesting me to prepare and send him a list of chaplains, their regiments, etc., in 
his old division; the number and name of destitute regiments; their disposition to- 
wards having chaplains and other preferences as to denomination, etc., and to do 
what I could in this command for securing acceptable chaplains to every destitute 
regiment. 

" About 20th of November Brigadier-General Paxton assumed command of the 
brigade. Chaplains had been hitherto held under no military responsibility ; but 
Paxton soon indicated that they must not leave without proper furloughs. Novem- 
ber 21 we broke camp and marched for Fredericksburg, On that march a chap- 
lain went to General Paxton with oral request for leave of absence ; Paxton refused 
it unless written and endorsed by regimental commander. He went to General 
Jackson, but the general gave him the same reply, and informed him that such li- 
cense would degrade the chaplaincy in the eyes of soldiers, and he wished it re- 
garded as important as any other office in the army. 

" Opportunities were furnished me on that march for testing the results of our re- 
cent interest. I found it quite general and abiding. A young friend (assistant ad- 
jutant-general to Paxton) had made profession of faith and attributed it in great 
degree to the influence and friendship of the lamented Baylor. With a sergeant I 
had much conversation, who received impressions which led to his hopeful profes- 
sion of faith. With a high-toned but uncjon verted officer I had a discussion, pro- 
tracted through that long march, on certain doctrinal questions; and when he fell 



468 APPENDIX. 

in the battle of the Wilderness, I hope he died a Christian. Many other incidents 
I might relate, but these will suffice to show the power of personal approach and 
interviews with men, which we are so slow to use. 

"General Paxton, who had been represented as a hard-hearted man, I soon 
found a wise and earnest coadjutor of all chaplains in the faithful discharge of their 
duties, and interested in kno\^'ing what they were doing. He agreed fully with Gen- 
eral Jackson in his regard for the office, though at this time he made no profession 
of religion. When we reached our destination near Guinea Station, I handed my 
report for General Jackson to him through Lieutenant Smith, and asked and ob- 
tained a furlough. My regimental commander (Colonel Nadenbousch), himself not 
a professor of religion, told me he should have a chapel built for me on my return. 

"When my furlough expired, I found the brigade in winter-quarters, near Moss 
Neck, and some steps had been taken towards having a brigade-chapel erected ; but 
the work had come to a pause. As this had been done, I was told, by the military 
authority, I awaited their completion of it. At length General Paxton, to whom I 
had not been introduced, sent for me to his quarters, requested me to hasten the 
chapel's erection, saying he did not feel authorized to detail men on it, but that, if 
I would obtain volunteers,' he would exempt them trom military duties, 'provided 
they would tvorki' The founilation had been laid in this shape. 



Ill 



= fire-place and chimney. 



P = pulpit in corner. 
C 

" The work was put into the hands of a man in the Fourth Regiment. The 
building was al)Out the centre of the brigade ; and the work was soon completed. 
And if the master- workman (a self-styled 'corporal ') did desert the army immedi- 
ately after his work was done, he left behind a monument which deserves in your 
book a much more honorable association than with his name. 

" Rev. L. C. Vass visited us just at the completion of our ' first temple ' and 
preached the first sermon in it. He became chaplain of the Twenty-seventh Regi- 
ment. His appointment supplied all five regiments of the brigade with the living 
ministry. We seemed now ready, under a favorable Providence, for hard work. All 
the army was quiet ; General Paxton urged us on ; General Jackson, near by, encour- 
aged us by frequent attendance at service ; regimental officers upheld our hands. 
But for awhile all seemed spiritually dead. A number of prisoners were under 
sentence of death for desertion, althinigh not one from my regiment. I was in daily 
attendance upon ihem in the guard-house. As most of our chaplains were absent 
from camp much of that time, this painful service devolved on me, even to an- 
nouncing their sentences and accompanying them to the stake. Their expressions 
of hope and gratitude must be my sufficient reward in this life. 

" Brother Tebbs having returned from furlough, he and I began frequent services. 
I also organized a Bible-class in the brigade court-martial room, which, designed 
primarily for my own regiment, was opened also to any persons. W^e commenced 
with about thirty members, and met twice a week at night. In the course of time 
I had the joy of welcoming nearly every member of that class into a profession of 
Christ. By the latter part of February a very general interest in religion had spread 
throughout the brigade. Chaplains were more devoted ; congregations larger; but 
not many taking decided stand for the Lord in public. Chaplains of the brigade, 
and indeed of the division, began to grow acquainted, interested in each other and 
co-operative. We discussed the idea of holding staled meetings for mutual prayer 
and conference. Some of us visited our honored corps-commander and conversed 
with him regarding such measure-s, and were gratified to learn that he approved 
them. 



APPENDIX. 



469 



"Sunday morning, 29th of February, 1863, I went to chapel expecting to preach 
on Revelation iii. 2, to Christians. After I had commenced service Brother Walton 
introduced you, and with some reluctance, I confess, I yielded the pulpit and in- 
vited you to preach. But my reluctance was soon dispelled, for you preached al- 
most my sermon, upon some other text. This seemed to persuade me that that was 
the message which the Lord wished urged ; so I preached my sermon that after- 
noon, having introduced it by that strange providence which I hoped was indicative 
of good. The next day it reached me that the Lord had impressed His truth upon 
Christians and they were growing ashamed of themselves. They went to praying, 
and from that day Christ's people began to work in earnest, as they had not done 
before. It pleased the Lord also just in that week to send Rev. B, T. Lacy to 
see us. We consulted about the proposition General Jackson had made him. He 
preached for us with encouraging results. Rev. Wm. J. Hoge was also sent by the 
good Lord; he preached; and the wave of interest rolled on. Soon sinners be- 
gan to inquire the way to God ; Christians began to make unusual efforts in win- 
ning souls ; solemnity characterized the command, and congregations began to ex- 
ceed the capacity of our primitive house of worship. Be it remembered that up to 
this time the casualities of war had left my regiment almost unrepresented in Chris- 
tian profession. But many were now gathered into the fold, and many more from 
the brigade. I kept no record of numbers. But the greatest work was among the 
troops of the Fourth Regiment. Cold professors were revived ; and sinners M'ere 
converted; yet the work was silent, quiet and deep. I can recall but a single in- 
stance of excitement, and verily do I believe that was the genuine product of deep 
conviction. For the strong young man had backslidden, and under the physical ex- 
citement of his returning conviction, he swooned away into my arms as I talked 
with him ; but when consciousness returned he was calm. Interested men crowded 
us after service, and we were compelled to hold meetings for praying and convers- 
ing with them whenever public services were ended. This work continued till I 
was laid aside from it on the last day of March. Others may continue the narra- 
tive of the communion and ingathering; but I am sure all who found peace did 
not make public profession, because it had yet not been determined what was best 
to be done about such cases. 

"While this work went on my regiment subscribed $140.00 for reading-matter. 
I obtained about seventy copies of papers of all denominations, besides a monthly 
instalment of tracts through the soldiers' true friend, Mrs. E. H. Brown. The 
regiment, which was from the Valley, and which had known the evil power of the 
enemy, generously contributed to suffering citizens of Fredericksburg the creditable 
sun:i of $505.25; the Fourth Regiment also contributed $349.75, both of which 
sums were forwarded through me to the injured city. Contributions were also 
made by other regiments; but the amounts I cannot state. Two tracts which I had 
requested Rev. R..L. Dabney, D.D., to write, one on ' Profane Swearing,' and one 
on 'Christ our Substitute,' were published, and I found them of great efficacy. In- 
creased interest had also been manifested in Brigadier-General J. M. Jones's Brigade, 
near us, and with it increased association between the chaplains of the two commands. 
This gave more definite shape to our idea of a chaplains' meeting, and we were 
just reaching the conclusion to invite the other chaplains to meet us. While we 
were waiting to ascertain a central place, and suitable time. Brother Lacy effected 
his arrangements for joining the army, and came among us. We talked over the 
matter with him ; ascertained that Round Oak Baptist Church could be used ; and 
determined to call a meeting of the chaplains of the corps for March 16. My own 
hand wrote the circular; all the chaplains of our brigade and Jones's, I believe, 
signed it. Brother Vass and I took it to corps head-quarters, and Colonel Faulkner 
promised to issue it officially. (General Jackson was busy; we did not see him 
just then; but he had advised us to this ccurse.) Llence the first chaplains' meet- 



470 APPENDIX. 

ing ; but I doubt not many other brethren had felt the same need of some such 
thing. 

" Brother Tebbs was compelled to resign in the latter part of March on account 
of ill health, having taken violent cold in our beloved chapel, where our labors had 
become so interesting, but which was very damp. I was stricken down in the mid- 
dle of a sermon on Psalm li. lo, on the night of March 30, and disappointed of a 
communion which we had appointed for an early day. Henceforth Brothers Vass, 
Walton and Grandin conducted the meetings. 

" Many interesting incidents, of course, occurred in that revival ; but only such 
as every minister meets at such times. But one whose interest culminated after my 
extreme illness and removal to the hospitable roof of Mr. Buckner (Geo. Washing- 
ton), some two miles from camp, deserves my notice. A youth of handsome, but 
pensive face, was seen awaiting every night the ministrations of chaplains. For 
some nights, however, I did not speak with him. Finally I did, and found him an 
orphan boy from Shenandoah. Long did he remain in darkness; but nothing 
daunted- At length he found peace; but after I was removed. And one night, 
when too sick to read, I received two letters from men in camp; one from him, 
thanking me for the counsel I had given, and especially for the sermon I had 
preached the last night I attempted it. It was my privilege to observe the beauti- 
ful consistency of little Solomon H in a trying mihtary career in subsequent days, 

and I trust he may long add evidence to evidence, showing that his heart was cre- 
ated anew and his spirit rectified. 

" In frequent personal interviews with General Paxton he expressed a growing 
interest in the Saviour, until he gave evidence of true conversion, and wi'ote home 
requesting to be regarded as a member of the Church. In one of these interviews 
he said with emphasis : 'Ah! how inconsistent men are about religion; persuade 
the business man that anything is necessary for his interest, and he will do it at 
once ; but you may persuade men of their interest in religion, and still they will pro- 
crastinate — in many cases till too late.' Having ridden over to visit me while I 
was ill, he told nfe that he felt that he would soon be killed, and he wished not to 
go unprepared. And so it was; he had just issued orders for his maiden charge, 
which terminated in brilliant success, when he was killed by a ball from the enemy. 

" With sadness must I make the confession that not one officer of my own regi- 
ment was added to the Church this winter; yet their friendship was warm and even 
touching, as will be evinced by this incident : One had been visiting me while I 
was sick, and upon going out of the room he slipped an envelope into my hand 
bearing some such superscription : ' From the officers, Second Virginia, as a 
token of our regard.' Opening it I found the sum of $500.00. After tlie brigade 
had reached the vicinity of Chancellorsville for that battle, Colonel Naden- 
bousch, learning that I was exposed to capture at Mr. Buckner's, sent back an ex- 
press to remove me if my strength would permit it. This was done, and on the 
day of that memorable battle I was transferred to Richmond. So obstinate was my 
typhoid pneumonia that I could not rejoin the army till July following, after its re- 
turn from Gettysburg. 

" The spiritual interests of the command suffered no little by the campaign, and 
I doubt not that the restraints of enlightened consciences saved much of that ret- 
ribution upon the enemy's country which the world would have justified. Briga- 
dier General J. A. Walker was now commanding the brigade. Its numbers and 
aspect had greatly changed under the rigors of that demoralizing and arduous cam- 
paign. ' _ 

" On 22d July we set in motion for the eastern side of the Blue Ridge. 
W^hile resting a day in Madison county I embraced an opportunity for calling to- 
gether the Christians of my regiment, procuring a roll of some fifty of them who 
remained ; temporarily arranged them in clubs for ' family prayer,' nights after 



APPENDIX. 471 

tattoo, and mornings after first roll-call. When we halted longer in Orange, we 
threw all these clubs into one regimental prayer-meeting, to be conducted exclu- 
sively by the proffssors of religion in alphabetical order, and at the same hours, I 
announced my purpose of attending them seldom, in order that they might yi'^/ that 
they bore all the responsibility. This was found a most delightful service; increas- 
ing numbers attended ; other regiments followed the example; and these meetings 
were perpetuated until the casualties of battle literally annihilated the number 
who composed it ! I preached in conjunction with Brother Vass every night or 
day ; or held prayer-meeting at regimental head-quarters for the regiment. I had 
also a large Bible-class reorganized, which met under a hill, protected from the hot 
sun by the shade of a poplar and some artificial covering of brush. 

"Our brigade reorganized its Christian Association, which had just been formed 
at the opening of the Chancellorsville Campaign. Considerable interest began to be 
manifested in my regiment, and many of our most interesting men made public 
profession of faith. Rev. Wm. R. McNeer, who had for some time been acting 
chaplain of the Fourth Regiment, now received appointment ; and Rev. C. S. M. 
See was made chaplain of the Fifth Regiment, vice Walton resigned. So the bri- 
gade was once more supplied with ministers; although Brother Grandin, of the 
Thirty-third, was a prisoner, having been captured in Jefferson county, visitmg his 
wife, and had not been released. The spirituality of Christians seemed restored to a 
comfortable state, and a goodly number were gathered into the fold of professors. 

"The entire fall was spent in shifting from place to place; and the feverish 
movements of troops prevented any systematic labor by chaplains. All my regi- 
mental meetings were kept up, however, and the Brigade Association held regular 
meetings and flourished. About Christmas we went into winter-quarters near Pis- 
gah Church, in Orange county. Details of men and teams were so very heavy that 
it was late before we could proceed to work on chapels. Timber was so far off that 
an unusually large force of both were necessary. General Walker most gener- 
ously consented to exempt from military duty all who would work on chapels. 
The division pioneer corps near by agreed to assist; and Major-General Ed. 
Johnson courteously offered them inducements to do so. We determined to erect 
two chapels, one for Fourth and Fifth Regiments, and one for Second, Twenty- 
seventh and Thirty-third and pioneer corps, according to their positions in camp. 
Owing to the great difficulty of getting teams, the work progressed slowly ; but was 
finally accomplished, and ready for use on Sunday, January 31, 1864. (This refers to 
our oivn ; the other was ready about the same time.) We adopted in both instances a 
different form from the preceding one; both were rectangular parallelograms, thus: 
J} C C 

-and- 



(A) 



)W 



(B) 



" (A) = chapel of Second, Twenty-seventh and Thirty-third, situated on a beautiful 
southern exposure slanting downward from door, Z>, to chimneys = c c, and pulpit, 
P, with window, w, at south-east corner and near the eaves of the house, made by 
sawing a long piece of one big log out and tacking a piece of cotton over it. Here 
Vass and I served; Grandin returned from prison, but resigned or was transferred 
on account of ill health, etc. 

" (B) = chapel of Fourth and Fifth, situated on western exposure, with pulpit, 
P, fire-places, c c, on either side of pulpit, at lower side of building. Door in one 
end and near corner, at JD. Brother See served in B. These were both very com- 
fortable houses, and great improvements upon our first chapel. Nor did t/iezr ar- 
chitects find relief in desertion. 

"Congregations were good; association flourished much; at A we had daily 



472 APPENDIX. 

prayer-meeting at noon, besides the forementioned prayer-meetings. Interest in- 
creased, services were multiplied and sinners became penitent. But Satan was 
also very busy; sutlers were trading in liquor; men and officers were gambling, 
and there was much profanity. The sale of liquor in my regiment became so in- 
tolerable to me that I reported the fact to General Walker and urged him to restrain 
it. After a most courteous hearing he agreed to do so, and by the time I could 
reach my camp, his adjutant-general waited upon Mr. Sutler to lay down the 
ultimatum to him. This checked liquor-drinking greatly, but of course not en- 
tirely. What was noteworthy in that interview was, that General Walker (himself 
an ungodly man) gave me clearly to understand that he regarded me in reality the 
spiritual officer of the regiment ; that he expected me lo preserve the moral efficiency 
of the command by correcting and reporting such violations of morals and orders. 

" The Christian Association, meeting alternately in chapels A and B, infused much 
life into its proceedings by proposing at one meeting practical questions for discus- 
sions at the next. At leisure hours I frequently engaged with the young men of my 
regiment in a game of base-ball, for exercise in part, but principally to effect what it 
was ever my purpose to do, viz., to draw men out from their tents into the light of 
day, where evil practices are discouraged or corrected. 

" Let me here bear testimony, which both gratitude and justice require me to do. 
Some chaplains were wont to complain of disrespectful and unsympathetic officers 
with whom they were thrown, I shall not deny their statements of experience. 
But justice requires that from a singularly fortunate experience /should bear conflict- 
ing testimony. It seemed a strange dispensation which threw me so habitually with 
officers who made no profession of religion, and singular discouragement that the 
Lord never enabled me to do them more good. When the failures of my general work 
for my men, however, are recited in the great day, I shall hardly be able to find any 
of these to share my burden of mortification and grief. All with whom I was thrown 
by the vicissitudes of war, and they were not a few, were ever as ready to grant 
whatever was for the good of my work as I was to ask; and often has their prompt- 
ness to confer rebuked my timidity in asking co-operation. Allow me also to testify 
in behalf of the surgeons of that old command. In my judgment, and surely I had 
the best opportunities for reaching a true one, there was no class of officers or men 
who discharged their vexatious duties more faithfully, more diligently, more cheer- 
fully or more skilfully than did the medical corps of that brigade. As a class their 
efficient services merit the gratitude and admiration of the members of the Stone- 
wall Brigade. There may have been some faults and some neglects ; but Avhat other 
officer is free from similar accusation ? If it was generally known how little favor 
Government bestowed upon this department, or at least how little Government was 
able to equip it; how many whining skulks sought to convert the surgeons into 
escape-valves from military duty ; how fatiguing, engrossing and distracting their 
vocation just at the critical hour when men are most (pierulous ; their occasional 
demonstrations of temper, indifference or even unkindness will seem pardonable. 
This honorable profession has suffered too much traduction at the hands of men who 
were arrested in their ill purposes of escaping duty. 

" May 4, 1864, we broke camp and went forth to meet the enemy in the wilderness 
of Orange and Spottsylvania. Ministrations to the wounded and dying were all 
that chaplains could render up to the time that I was detached from the regiment, 
immediately after the disaster at Spottsylvania Court House on 12th of May, and 
ordered to the field-hospital (pei-manent) of our corps, by a written order from Gen- 
eral Ewell, through Chief-Surgeon McGuire. That disaster, in fact, terminated the 
separate existence of the Stonewall Brigade; and here properly this history might 
end. General Walker, having been badly wounded in that battle, was borne off to 
take command of it no more; but left an express farewell, saying they had his grati- 
tude and admiration for their handsome resistance on that ill-fated morning. The 



APPENDIX. 473 

fragments of this and other Virginia brigades of Johnson's Division were thrown into 
one brigade under Brigadier-General William Terry, and from that time the con- 
glomeration was styled Terry's Brigade. 

"When General Lee moved from Spotlsylvania Court House towards .Hanover 
Junction, he left the worst wounded men of the Third Corps cC armie in permanent 
hospitals near the field of bactle on the farm of Mr. Stuart. Dr. Kemper was left 
in charge of all ; and Dr. Bushrod Taylor, Surgeon Forty-eighth Virginia, was left 
in charge of Second Corps Hospital. The army having moved sooner than it was 
hoped, we were left without supplies, in a wasted, impoverished, but kind com- 
munity ; exposedto the enemy ; and, of course, in great straits. Our Corps Hospital 
had some 320 badly wounded, who required and had nearly 200 attendants, making 
in all about 500 men. Of this nmmber there were about fifty of the enemy's 
wounded, some of whom had been rescued from the merciless flames of that wood 
which the enemy retreating, beaten by Early, had fired for eluding his pressing 
column. For about twenty dnys we lost an average of five per day ; and as the 
wounded died, and the hospital became better organized under the judicious man- 
agement of Dr. Taylor, the nurses were reduced in number and dismissed to rejoin 
their commands. We had many reports of the enemy's approach ; but for some 
time they did not appear. In my ministrations I endeavored daily to visit every 
man, irrespective of his army, and knew no man after the flesh. So large was the 
number that at first it took me two days to pass entirely around the hospital. On 
June 10, about 2 P. M., while I was in a Yankee's tent praying and reading with 
him, at the corner of the hospital, a clatter of sabers was heard, and looking up we 
saw a detachment of Federal cavalry surrounding the hospital. They fired on one 
or two men running across the fields, and at first some courageous assaults were 
made upon our meagre commissary tent; but Colonel Anderson soon rode up, ar- 
rested very promptly this robbery of stores, and soon showed that he at least had 
the instincts of humanity. When the squadron were making their gallant charge, 
their sergeant, a rude, red-headed Pennsylvanian, dashed with drawn pistol through 
the middle of the camp. While thus displaying his heroism, a large, fierce-looking 
sergeant of a Maine regiment, whose arm. had been very badly fractured, staggered 
out of his tent, and in indignant style belabored his cavalry friend, saying : ' Put up 
your pistol; put up your pistol! What are you fli)urishing that about here for ? 
Nobody here but one-armed and one-legged and dying men; you needn't be afraid 
of them.' The only misconduct of which we had a right to complain was that they 
took off" half our nurses; and when Colonel Anderson told us the rigid orders from 
Torbert, which he refused complying with, we felt assured he did all that he dared 
to do. This was the Seventeenth Pennsylvania Regiment, and had been detached 
from Sheridan's raiding party upon Trevillian's Station, with orders to break up our 
hospital. The Yankee inmates of our hospital behaved gi-atefully and honorably. 
They interceded for our men, and none equalled them in their ridicule of the 'gal- 
lant charge ' and their ' successful assault upon a fortified camp.' I can fairly 
hear Pat Irishman, of a New Jersey regiment, now, laughing at the flaming heading 
of some Yankee paper telling of the ' handsome affair,' 'the number of prisoners 
taken by the Seventeenth Pennsylvania,' etc. It was my pleasure to hear many 
men in that memorable hospital make profession of faith in Christ. I conversed 
with every man on the subject of religion, and after the number was reduced by 
death, I held almost daily service in every tent. Among those who made profession 
of faith in Christ were several of the Federal wounded, who ever seemed as deeply 
interested in my ministrations as our own men. One of these became converted 
from Unitarianism, and wrote through me a long letter telling his sister of it. Some 
of these were very interesting cases ; two I recall particularly, from Boston, who 
were Congregationalists. One of these was named after Rev. Dr. Channing; 
another, when he had found peace in Chnst, said lo me one day : ' Chaplain, I 



474 APPENDIX. 

think you all will be victorious.' I asked why. Said he : ' Because I believe 
your army is composed of better men than ours ; during the whole time that I have 
lain in this hospital I have heard but one oath, and that just seemed to have slipped 
from a Louisianian in the adjoining tent. In our hospitals you would hear them 
every moment.' 

"Among our own men I met some cases full of interest among both men and offi- 
cers — so many, in fact, I can hardly begin to relate them. I will, however, give 
two which interested me much. One was Captain Williams, of North Carolina troops. 
He was a young man of great modesty, youthful in appearance, tender-looking and 
generous. Gallantry had won him early promotion. He was the cherished son of 
a pious mother, towards whom his heart seemed ever turning. For a long time he 
lingered, his mind ever clear, but he foresaw his end. Under the dissipations of 
camp he had too far forgotten the pious counsels of his mother, and the regret of 
this became very harrowing to his heart. He constantly spoke of his mother, and 
longed for her presence before death. A long time he had great difficulty in under- 
standing how Christ could be his substitute ; but finally the Spint opened his heart. 
He grew more bright and contented, and finally seemed to rejoice greatly that he 
could leave his dear mother some comfort in his death. He clung to me and was 
always begging me to read to him and pray with him ; and whereas he seemed to 
gain no benefit for a long time, he learned eventually to enjoy the word as I have 
seldom seen men do, making good and touching comments on it as I read verse 
after verse. One day when I approached him he called me affectionately to him, 
and most touchingly said, in childlike simplicity: 'Oh, sir, you are an an^e/ sent 
to me, in answer to the prayers of my dear, dear mother, who cannot be with me.' 
He ultimately died full of hope. 

"Another was a young man named Wilson, also from that good old State of North 
Carolina. His thigh was fractured in ' the upper third,' but his strong constitution 
long induced hope of his recovery; for several months he was silent, indifferent and 
even grum-looking, without being sour. When he had passed the crisis, as was 
hoped, I asked him if his thoughts had not been turned upon death and need of 
preparation for it. ' No, sir. I never had a serious thought of death or religion.' 
Astonished, I inquired if he was raised in a Christian family, and if he had any 
conscious antipathy to the matter of religion. ' None,' said he ; ' my mother is a 
member of the Baptist Church, and the most prayerful woman I ever knew; she 
raised me most piously, prayed with me, and is praying for me all the time. I ad- 
mire religion; I have a desire to obtain it, and to bear or do what is necessary to 
get it; but I have never felt one really deep or serious impression in my heart in 
health or sickness.' For weeks I daily visited him and sought to instruct, to in- 
duce, and finally to alarm him, but all seemed hopeless. I was lost in wonder. 
One night about bedtime he sent for me ; he had been taken suddenly ill, and death 
sat upon his countenance. When I entered the room, like one shaken over the 
flames of hell he said, with an emphasis which I cannot command: 'I am dying, 
sir; I am dying; and I am dying in my sins; my mother, oh, my mother ! ' I 
talked with him; I prayed; I left him wrapped in grief and w^onder. Surgeons 
said he must die in a few hours, but he lived longer; I remained with him a great 
deal. A few nights after, at 2 P. M., I was summoned to his tent. Again he saluted 
me : ' I am dying, sir ; I am dying; ' but now with changed expression he added : 
' I am dying happy; I am going to my Saviour; and you must write to mother that 
you saw me go into glory.' Again the surgeons pronounced him in artiado mortis; 
but, as if to confirm his testimony and make it reliable, the Lord spared him some 
time longer, and he gave goodly tokens of recovery. During that time his tongue, 
so habitually silent hitherto, spoke freely of Jesus' pardoning blood, and his face, 
hitherto grum, became radiant with sunny hope, while the previous murmuring of 
hii heart gave place to contentment. He wondered at himself, and greatly rejoiced 



APPENDIX. 475 

every hour that the Lord had prepared such blessed testimony for his dear mother 
to rest upon in her bereavement. His brother Joseph, who nursed him, received 
his benedictions, his prayers and his good counsel to meet him in heaven ; and he 
and I informed the afflicted mother of her oldest son's triumphant death. How 
wonderful are God's ways! Very little faith have I in deathbed repentances; but 
verily do I believe this was a genuine case of conversion in immediate prospect of 
death, and an answer, though long deferred, to the faithful prayers of affection. 

" On September 27, there seeming no further absolute need of my remaining at the 
hospital, and not being able to communicate with my old command, I asked and 
obtained from the surgeon in charge orders to report to the War Department. I 
reached Richmond the night of the day on which Fort Harrison fell, found all ex- 
citement, and after some difficulty obtained a pass out of the city to a friend near 
town. Next day I visited the War Department, found notice of its close, and in- 
structions to all officers to report to General Barton. About noon an order was 
issued exempting ministers and chaplains from service in the trenches ; but as danger 
was imminent, I went out and remained there (promoted to the high dignity of 
lieutenant) for nearly a week. Reporting to the Secretary of War at the end of that 
time, I was advised of the dismemberment of my old command, or rather its con- 
solidation, and given orders to report for duty to Mnjor-General J. B. Gordon in the 
Valley, which I accordingly did. 

" I overtook the Army of the Valley near New Market, reported to General Gor- 
don, whom I had never seen before, and received from him a temporary assignment 
to Terry's Brigade, of which my old regiment — now reduced to almost nothing — 
was a constituent part. In a few days Major R. W. Hunter, assistant adjutant-gen- 
eral to Gordon, bore me a message from the general asking how I would like to 
make his head-quarters my home and his division my field of labor. Sunday, 22d of 
October, General Gordon attended my preaching in Terry's Brigade, and invited me 
to his quarters next day. On the 24th he assigned me to his division, which was now 
composed of Terry's, Evans's and the Louisiana Brigades. Brothers See, BooUer, 
Gilmore and W^illiams were in Terry's Brigade ; Brother Smith, of the Sixtieth 
Georgia, in Evans's ; and in the Louisiana Brigade there was no chaplain — not even a 
priest. My labors were therefore directed principally to the last named brigade, to the 
pioneer corps and the guard-house of the division, which furnished me a considerable 
measure of work, if some of it was not very interesting. General Gordon gave as a 
reason for having me with him a sense of temptation to forget the claims of religion 
upon his own heart in the midst of pressing cares. Nothing worthy of special note 
occurred during the fall. Religion seemed rather cold under the temptations and 
distractions of the active campaigns through which the army had passed, a large 
proportion of the most pious men had been killed or wounded, and the morale of 
the army in the Valley under the discouraging defeats of that memorable campaign 
had deteriorated. In the remnant of my old regiment, when I rejoined the army, 
only two professing Christians could be found, and one of these was slain immediately 
afterwards at Cedar Creek. Yet there was also some encouragement. But drunk- 
enness was fearfully prevalent all through the army; so much so that our Chaplains' 
Association appointed a committee (of which I was one) to memorialize General 
Early on the subject, which resulted in an order from him prohibiting the liquor 
traffic. If anything noteworthy occurred during the summer, Brother See can give 
it to you, for he remained faithfully with his command on foot all that summer. 

" Near the last of November General Gordon received orders to take his own and 
Pegram's Division to the vicinity of Petersl)urg. For some time after reaching the 
lines on Hatcher's Run we were shifting about, skirmishing and fighting, and noth- 
ing could be done towards building chapels till late in the winter. In that time I 
obtained a furlough. Visiting the Louisiana Brigade, I remarked to them that I 
was sure they would build a theatre as usual, and as timber was very scarce, and 



476 



APPENDIX. 



there were so few interested about religious matters, I feared they would not build a 
chapel ; but I bespoke the use of their theatre for my preaching ! On my return 
from furlough they had nearly completed one of the best arranged, neatest and most 
comfortable chapels which I ever saw in the army. It was on this plan : 



c = chimney. 



c[: 



-H- 



Cp 



pulpit. 



door. 



" In this house I had many delightful services, of which more anon. 

" Terry's Brigade, camped in strict military regularity, had two chapels, one at either 
wing of the camp. That erected at left wing for use of Brothers Booker. Gilmore 
and Williams was large, and thus : 

c c 



chimneys ; P = pulpit. This was 




d= door fronting upon camp eastward; c 
first completed. 

" The one at right wing for See's use was thus 




Z> = door facing inward, upward upon camp westward ; P= pulpit ; c c = fireplace 
in centre; two faces, one to each wing, and chimney-stem passing out through top 
of roof by the ridge pole. This was very comfortable ; but just as it was. completed 
we moved into trenches, and left it for Wallace's Brigade. 

" Smith's chapel, in Evans's Brigade, was much larger than either of these, but less 
convenient and elegant ; ns follows : 

^ P = pulpit. 





J^I 




D D = doors. 




•lllllll f^ llillll 



c c =^ chimneys. 
€ C 

" These were all built of pine logs and covered with pine slabs, while thick pine 
slabs or logs made seats. All chapels I have mentioned were made of similar ma- 
terial, and built in same way substantially. 

" I devoted myself that winter principally to the Louisiana Brigade, and to the two 
guard-houses of Gordon's Division and Second Corps. General Gordon, command- 
ing corps, directed me to remain still at his head-quarters. We organized in the 
Louisiana Brigade a Bible-class and prayer-meeting through the zeal of a lieu- 
tenant of the Ninth Regiment and the leader of the band, who was a recently con- 
verted educated German atheist, and these two agencies became very operative and 
interesting. The band, under the generous impulse of its very skilful leader, led or 
accompanied all our music in public service, and thrilled my soul by many solemn 
and impressive suggestions as very few church choirs and church organs have ever 
done. Since our separation how often has my heart longed for the instrumental 
music of Professor Doll and his accommodating band. 



APPENDIX. 477 

" I gave notice that on the night preceding the national fast (March 9) I should 
preach to the brigade on profane swearing, and requested that special efforts should 
be made to secure the attendance of every swearer in the command. When I came 
out of the pulpit, a bright-faced youth said to me : ' You ought to have pretty near 
every man in the brigade.' The night appointed arrived, but a hard rain was fall- 
ing. I got General Gordon to go with me and to make an address at the close of 
my sermon. A large crowd pressed into the chapel, and many stood under the eaves 
about the door, while many had to retire on account of the rain. I began to think 
the young man was nearly right. It was evident that the services had made some 
impression. In a little while I learned that many men and messes had said they felt 
ashamed of their evil practice, and many messes covenanted, some under fines, to 
abstain from so vicious a habit. 

",0n the morning of the 26ih, after our assault upon the enemy's lines at Fort Stead- 
man, the following gratifying incident occurred : I was passing through one of our 
Petersburg hospitals, looking up all the wounded of my own division, when I was 
attracted by a remark which seemed addressed to no one particularly : ' That's my 
little chaplain.' I looked around; saw a young man wounded; spoke to him, and 
learned that he belonged to the Louisiana Brigade, and also to that splendid band 
of soldiers whose conduct on that morning alone deserves celebration in the heart 
of every Confederate, the Second Corps Sharpshooters ; and that he had received his 
wound just as he was mounting the enemy's entrenchment. I had hardly spoken 
to him when he asked, smiling, if I remembered the sermon I preached on swear- 
ing in their bi-igade. ' Yes,' said I. ' Well, sir,' he said, ' I made up my mind 
that night when you and the general got through that I never would swear again ; 
and all our mess said the same thing, and we haven't sworn since.' Certainly, in 
mingling with that gallant command in the vexatious trenches and on the march, I 
heard but little profanity among them from that time. 

" This thought suggests a general observation which I had the pleasure of making 
in the closing trials of our once splendid army. Upon the whole retreat from 
Petersburg to Appomattox I was passing and meeting our corps time and again every 
day ; in mud, by day, by night, at every hour of both — hungry, exhausted, fighting, 
retreating; mortified, desperate of success, and harassed as -I have never seen them — 
yet, thank God, I can testify that in all this trial and vicissitude I scarcely heard any 
oaths ! Doubtless vianyv/exQ uttered. I can recall one or two, but their utterances 
were so seldom as to attract my most grateful remark. 

" The nature of the campaign, its activity and confusion, up to the very day of our 
leaving Appomattox, rendered it next to impossible' for chaplains to do anything of 
ministerial work; so for that period I have nothing special to report. Finding so 
little opportunity for ministerial labor, I was used by General Gordon in almost con- 
stant military service as an aide-de-camp. At Appomattox two chaplains of the 
Federal army came into our lines after the capitulation to see ' some of the chap- 
lains ' of our army, and to make inquiry as to the regard shown chaplains in our 
army by officers. They seemed much surprised at learning my testimony as to the 
kindly regard in which dutiful ministers were held, and spoke of the great contrast 
which our relation to the army officers bore to their own. They inquired relative to 
the great work of grace, and the means by which it was promoted. I told them 
courteously. They then inquired : ' Hom'^ much salary do you get ? ' Upon learning 
how small it was, they expressed great surprise, and said they could not live on that ; 
they were entitled to, I believe, two horses and ^130, and that they seemed to think 
rendered it a speculation of doubtful profit ! 

"At General Gordon's head-quarters we habitually held ' family worship ' every 
night, at which all the staff attended. 

"And here shall my egotistical memoir end. In your book you will please not in- 
sert the one-hundredth part of these egos. They are written for you alone ; and 



478 APPENDIX. 

I imagine every chaplain who supplies you material in this form may make quite as 
long a list, and will do so unless they undertake your work of writing the history. 
But I hope you will permit candor and truth to override politeness in pronouncing 
judgment upon our personal and official defects. Very truly yours, 

"A. C. Hopkins." , 

\Copy of a Letter fro7Ji General T. J. Jackson to Colonev S. Bassett French, Dated\ 

" Near Fredericksburg, April 15, 1863. 
^^Dear Colonel : Your letter of 13th instant was received yesterday, and your tele- 
gram to Mr. Smith was also received ; and he, by the signal-line, inquired of Mr. 
Hopkins's physician respecting his health, and it is improving. This improvement 
we have known for several days. He is too valuable to us to admit of not being 
carefully looked after. You will give yourself no concern respecting his being taken 
care of. He is in a comfortable house, and he will continue to be well cared for, 

" Very truly your friend, 
[Extract,] " T. J, Jackson," 

"This will illustrate the general's tender care for his chaplains, and his concern in 
whatever affects their usefulness. At the same time he sent Captain Smith, his aide- 
de-camp, to see me, and also Lieutenant Marsden, my wife's cousin, with permis- 
sion to remain and nurse rne if I needed attention. This was during my illness at 
Mr. Buckner's, 1863, 

" With another apology for want of modesty, I am affectionately yours, 

"A, C, Hopkins." 

\^Fro7n Rev. Dr. Theoderick Pryor, Presbyterian Missionary Chaplain to First 

Corps. ^ 

"Brunswick County, Virginia, February 26, 1867. 
" Rev, J. Wm. Jones : 

" Pev. and Dear Brother : I have learned through the religious press your pur- 
pose, as suggested in your letter, I heartily commend the enterprise and the ob- 
jects sought to be promoted by it. And most gladly would I contribute, according 
to my ability, towards the accomplishment of your purpose. Whilst with the army 
(a period of about two years), my impressions are most favorable as to the influence 
and effect of religious truth. It appeared to me that during a course of ministerial 
experience extending through twenty-four years I had never witnessed more pre- 
cious seasons of grace, or more signal displays of Divine mercy, than it was my 
privilege to witness in the army. Scores, perhaps I would not err were I to say 
hundreds, of professed conversions passed under my own observation. Never be- 
fore was it my privilege to preach to as large congregations or to congregations 
more respectful in deportment, more serious, and upon whom the truth of God 
seemed to have more marked power and effect. The morale of the army, too, ap- 
peared to me to be good. So far as my observation extended, among both officers 
and privates, there was less profanity than would be found among an equal number 
of men anywhere else. By officers, from the highest to the lowest grade, in my 
official capacity as chaplain, I was treated with uniform respect and courtesy, and from 
the men I received nothing but the utmost kindness and consideration. There 
were, no doubt, bad men in the army, both officers and privates, but it was my hap- 
piness to be thrown with those, for the most part, of an opposite character. 

" Whilst many of the severest trials and privations of my life were experienced 
in the army, it affords me real pleasure to state that many of the happiest seasons 
of my life were passed with the Army of Northern Virginia, To my dying day shall 



APPENDIX. 479 

I remember those precious meetings, held by day and by night, with that noble 
army of patriots. In the camp, in tlie hospital, in the bomb-proof, along the line 
of toilsome march, I mingled freely with them, and, as best I could, preached to 
them the Gospel of the grace of C.iod. It is my most cherished hope that the labors 
of our chaplains, than whom, in my judgment, there was not a body of ministers in 
the land more worthy of all praise, were largely productive of lasting, nay, eternal 
good. The last great day alone will develop the full amount of good which, 
through the mercy of God, that noble body of men were enabled to accomplish. 
It is with mournful pleasure that in the seclusion of a quiet country charge I revert 
to those scenes of thrilling interest and excitement, not to say peril, through which 
you and I and the whole corps of field-chaplains passed with the brave and veteran 
Army of Northern Virginia. 

" May the Lord grant you entire success in your noble enterprise and abundantly 
bless you in all the work of your hands. 

" Your unworthy Brother in Christ, 

" Theoderick Pryor." 

\_From Rev. R. W. Cridlin, Baptist, Chaplain Thirty-eighth Virginia.~\ 

"Chesterfield, March 22, 1867. 

^^ Dear Brother Jones : Before going into details, allow me to state that I was 
appointed chaplain of the Thirty-eighth Virginia Infantry June 9, 1863, and re- 
mained with it to the surrender. 

" (i.) I know very little about the early history of my regiment. We had a his- 
tory of our regiment (and also one of our brigade) written, but have heard nothing 
of it since the close of the war. This regiment was composed of men from Pittsyl- 
vania, Halifax and Mecklenburg counties, Virginia. It started from Danville in 
the spring of 1861, under the command of Colonel E. C. Edmunds. It was con- 
nected with several brigades. When I joined it, it was attached to Armistead's 
Brigade, Pickett's Division, First Corps, and it continued in this position to the sur- 
render, under different commanders. General Armistead was killed at Gettysburg, 
Our next general was Baiton ; then George H. Steuart, of Maryland, who remained 
with it till the surrender. I knew very little about the other regiments — viz., Ninth, 
Fourteenth, Fifty-third and Fil"ty-seventh. The Rev. Mr. Crocker, of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, was at one time chaplain of the Fourteenth ; Rev. Mr. Joiner, 
Methodist Episcopal Church, chaplain of the Fifty-seventh ; Rev. W. S. Penick of 
the Fifty-third, afterwards Brother P. H. Fontaine ; Rev. J. W. Walkup, of Rock- 
bridge county, Virginia, was chaplain of the Ninth, afterwards Rev. George W. 
Easter, of the Episcopal Church. The Rev. Mr. Cosby, now of Petersburg, Vir- 
ginia (Episcopal), was the first chaplain of the Thirty-eighth Regiment. He re- 
mained a short while. Then a Rev. Mr. Colton, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
was appointed, who remained two or three months. I am unable to state how many 
sermons I preached or prayer-meetings held, Bible-classes conducted, tracts dis- 
tributed. I have no record and I can't trust my memory. We had a flourishing 
Brigade Young Men's Christian Association, and when in camp had our Sabbath- 
schools and Bible classes. I know I distributed thousands of tracts, and I have 
reason to believe much good was done. Just here allow me to relate a little 
incident illustrating the good effects of tracts. While, carrying around these 
little messengers of love, I entered a tent and found two young men engaged in 
a game of cards. At first they seemed ashamed, then they braced up their fiilmg 
courage (if courage it was) and continued the game. I kindly asked 'if I could 
take a hand.' Waiting for my turn, I first threw down ' Evils of Gaming; ' then 
' Mother's Parting Words to her vSoldier Boy.' I found that the game was mine. 
At the sight of the 7vord ' mother^ the tears rolled down their cheeks as they both 
exclaimed : ' Parson, I will never play cards again ! ' 



480 APPENDIX. 

" (2.) My first protracted effort was made soon after the battle of Gettysburg, 
near Orange Court House. In this meeting God was with us and His people were 
revived and more than a hundred converted. Brother A. Broaddus baptized twenty 
for me while there. My next meeting (of much interest) was in the fall of 1864, in 
which about sixty were turned from 'darkness to light.' I don't remember any 
remarkable conversions, or that any means were employed beyond the ordinary 
means of grace. 

" (3,) Most of those who professed were steadfast in their love and devotion to 
Christ and His cause. Many of them died in the ' triumphs of faith.' 

" (4.) Our first colonel, Colonel Edmunds, was, I think, a member of the Epis- 
copal Church. His influence was very beneficial to his command. I know nothing' 
of his last moments, as he was killed on the field of Gettysburg. Our next colonel 
was the young yet brave and accomplished gentleman and officer, James Cabell, of 
Danville. Colonel Cabell was not a member of any Church, but told me a few 
days before his death 'that he felt prepared.' He was killed near Drewry's Bluff, 
May 10, 1864, leaving a young bride and many dear ones to mourn their loss. 
Colonel George Griggs, of Pittsylvania, was our next colonel. He w^as a member 
of the Baptist Church. He was ever ready to aid me in my^meetings, and was not 
ashamed to exhort his men publicly to enlist under the banner of Christ. His life 
was spared and he has resumed his place at home, where I hope he may be long 
spared to labor for Christ. Among my most valuable assistants was Captain J. T. 
Averett. Captain John A. Herndon, Captain Jennings, Captain Gru]:)bs, Lieutenant 
Gardner and others were true soldiers of Jesus. 

" General Steuart and his assistant adjutant-general, Captain Darden, were 
members of the Episcopal Church. Colonel Phillips, of the Ninth, was a man of 
more than ordinary talent, and he did all he could for Christ. 

"(5.) It was fully and satisfactorily |)roved in our regiment that true '■soldiers 
of the Cross ' made the best soldiers for their country. 

" (6.) I don't remember but some four or five who' told me that they would de- 
vote the rest of their time to the ministry. Captain J. A. Herndon, of Pittsylvania, 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, expected to do so. Brother W. A. Morefield, 
of Halifax ; Brother Hodges, Methodist Episcopal ; Brother C. Penick, Episcopal 
Church; Brother C. F. James (Captain Company F, Eighth Virginia), of Loudon, 
whom I baptized, is now at Richmond College preparing himself for the ministry. 
No doubt many others will decide to ' go and do likewise.^ God grant it. 

" (7.) I baptized about forty. I was not ordained till December, 1863. I 
think I can safely put the whole number of conversions in the brigade at 500, as 
other chaplains had gracious revivals, and have reason to infer they had many con- 
versions. 

" My dear brother, you have my best wishes and prayers in your arduous work. 
We need such a book. I think it will do much good. If I can serve you in any 
way, I am at your service. May the Lord bless us at an early date with such re- 
freshing showers of grace as we enjoyed in Orange in 1863, 

" Yours in Christian love, 

" R. W. Cridlin. 

"Chesterfield Court House, Virginia." 

\^Froni Rev. J. K. Hitner, Presbyterian, Private Rockbridge Artillery^ 

" Brief Compend of the Religious History of the Rockbridge Artillery. 

" The material of the company from the beginning was composed of men and offi- 
cers of good moral character, who always exercised a good influence and thus gave 
a reputation to the company. I joined the company, Monday, March 22, 1862, and 
give account from this date. 



APPENDIX. 481 

" Before joining the army, we had heard much about the demoralized condition of 
the men, their profanity, etc., which no doubt prejudiced my mind somewhat, and 
I was agreeably surprised to find much of the reverse on joining this company. 
They were falUng back from Kernstown when I joined them ; the spirits of the 
men were good, and all seemed cheerful. I was struck with the absence of strict 
discipline in our army from the very first, and which, no doubt, contributed in some 
degree to the inefficiency of the men in circumstances when united and prompt action 
would have availed much. Whether the men would have submitted to strict disci- 
pline, owing to early training, etc., etc., is another question, which I will not discuss. 
The first Sabbath in the army is marked in my journal as having been ' horribly 
spent,' being engaged most of the day in cutting wood, cooking, etc., while the rain 
was pouring down upon us and making us miserable. No doubt the necessary 
duties of camp-life on the Sabbath, and the fact that many of Jackson's battles were 
fought on the Sabbath, owing to unavoidable circumstances, made it extremely dif- 
ficult for professing Christians to improve the ordinary means of grace which other- 
wise they might have enjoyed. And that many Christians did grow in grace in spite 
of these depressing circumstances, and that many were led to seek an interest in 
Christ, not only in this company, but in the army at large, proves that there was a 
genuine work of the Spirit, though the estimate oft made as to the numbers who 
were converted men is usually too large. 

" Having cleared off in the evening of the Sabbath, enjoyed a prayer meeting — about 
thirty present ; the singing had a cheering effect. Upon further experience in the 
company, I found many of the young men to be of high character, good education, 
and some ten or twelve to be real, active Christians. From the first, great watchful- 
ness and care required lest the reading of the word and use of prayer should be 
slighted or neglected — which was the experience of many; found need of 'watch 
and pray.' 

" This week so busily engaged in moving about, had no opportunities for prayer- 
meetings. On the second Sabbath enjoyed two prayer-meetings, and which con- 
tinued the general rule ever after in the company, w^hen external circumstances 
would allow of it; and the attendance in our company was always good. And it 
shall never be forgotten how grandly impressive were those meetings in the open 
air ; a bayonet stuck in the ground for our candlestick, and speakers and hearers 
seated on the ground or on sticks of wood, while deep attention was generally given 
to the word of God and the supplications to the throne of grace. We often spent 
the evenings in singing hymns, until the taps gave notice to be quiet. 

"About this time (April and May, 1862) we were constantly on the move, so that 
we had but very few opportunities for holding religious services, even on Sabbath. 
When possible. General Jackson always insisted on the chaplains taking advantage 
of the Sabbaths, even when we were near the enemy and were likely to be attacked — 
as on several occasions — so anxious was he for the spiritual condition of his men. I 
remember several times when our service was disturbed by shells flying over us and 
breaking up our meeting. In one of our advances upon the enemy, when we had 
been on the march during the Sabbath, General Jackson sent down order for the 
chaplains to have divine service on Monday, and to spend the day in rest. Friday, 
May 16, 1862, appointed by President as a fast-day, when all extra duties were sus- 
pended in the company, but the hard rain prevented our holding the prayer-meetings 
we had appointed ; so on the following Sabbath. 

" It seemed that we were to have no Sabbath-day services, for we were either 
marching or fighting, or the wet weather prevented us from holding any religious 
meetings. Then, during the day we w^ere continually on the march from early to 
late, so that when we got to camp we were tired, hungry, worn-out, besides having 
our rations to cook. Yet I find, on different days of the week and at irregular 
hours, notices of preaching and prayer-meetings, which were well and eagerly at- 
31 



482 APPENDIX. 

tended by the brigade and company, and every nolice of such an appointment was 
always hailed with joy by the men. 

" Saturday, June 14, 1862, a day of thanksgiving to God for many mercies and pro- 
tection, which was much enjoyed throughout this portion of the army; preaching 
and prayer-meetings in the day. June 15, much to our surprise as to our joy, no 
orders to move, and we spent the day quietly — preaching in the morning by Dr. 
Dabney ; in the evening enjoyed a communion season, in which many participated 
and drew near to Jesus. 

" Sunday, June 22. Much rejoiced to find we had no marching to perform to-day, 
but allowed a quiet rest ; participated in the usual church privileges of Gordonsville, 
near which place we have halted. Having made forced marches last week, a rest is 
very grateful to-day. Monday, up at 3 j^ A. M., to make up for the rest of yesterday, 
and pushing on as fast as possible — to what point we were entirely ignorant, though 
indulging in surmises. (Yet going to Richmond.) 

" Sunday, July 6, 1862. Lay under orders all day, expecting to meet or attack the 
enemy. Men worn down by low rations, marching, heat, and dirt. 

" Saturday, August 8. Cedar Mountain: — Incident. A staff officer was struck with 
a shell and dreadfully wounded. He was a very profane man, yet as he felt his time 
of life was about ended, he called me to him and gave me his watch and ring to send 
to his wife. ' But, major, can I do nothing more for you?' 'Tell my wife I die 
trusting in Christ.' I laid on the ground beside him, praying with him, directing 
him to Jesus, while the shells were bursting all around us and threatening every mo- 
ment to send us both into eternity, and the blood flowing from his wound formed a 
little puddle around him ; many, passing by to join in the fierce battle that was then 
raging, stopped a moment to witness this strange and solemn sight. That man re- 
covered, but never evidenced by his subsequent course that he had ever experienced 
the great change ; far from it; as the dews of death seemed to be gathering over 
him, he seemed to feel the importance of religion, and doubtless did feel it; but, as 
he recovered and took a fresh hold on life, he again gave way to the sinfulness of his 
nature and lived without Gc^ — a strange thing. Yet such is the hardening power 
and deceitfulness of sin. 

" During the marches of the fall of 1862 had no regular opportunities for holding 
prayer-meetings, but had meetings as circumstances would permit, which were com- 
paratively few. Yet the active Christians of the company, among whom were some 
six seminary students, employed themselves distributing tracts and Testaments and 
religious papers, Avhich were always eagerly received and carefully read by the men. 
We oft noticed before going into battle, even as we walked along the road just 
before engaging, that many of the men drew forth their Testaments and enjoyed the 
consolations of the Gospel in view of their danger. And from their serious faces 
we could see they were in earnest and enjoyed the comforting assurances therein 
provided. The changed, sober countenances of the men on going into battle was 
very marked, and serious thoughts were occupying their minds. 

" In winter of 1862 and 1863, after the first battle of Fredericksburg, we were en- 
gaged on picket at Port Royal, some fourteen miles below Fredericksburg, detached 
from the first regiment in which we had been formed, with several other compa- 
nies, and we had no preaching throughout this winter, except once or twice by Rev. 
J. Wm. Jones, of Thirteenth Virginia, who was some three miles from us. Yet the 
Lord visited us in our prayer-meetings, which we held regularly, generally twice on 
the Sabbath and twice during the week, in some of the shanties we had erected. 
These meetings were very well attended. We also distributed tracts, religious papers, 
and Testaments, and these means of grace were greatly blessed by the Lord to the 
good of many souls, we trust. The effect was visible in the conduct of the men, and 
we felt assured from the frequent conversations we had with many that the Lord had 
been with us to do us good. After we removed to Hamilton's Crossing, in March, 



APPENDIX. 48S 

near Fredericksburg, we kept up these meetings and tract distributions, and witnessed 
increased interest among the men. These white-winged messengers of grace, as the 
tracts have been called, found their way into the hands of very many men of this 
part of our army. A novel and excellent way was to string a number of tracts and 
suspend to a tree on the public road, on the Sabbath, inviting all who felt interested 
to pull off a tract and read it. Oft wagoners stopped their teams, and officers drew 
near on horseback, and men walking along would turn by to get a tract, and con- 
tinue on their way reading the good news therein contained, as they went along the 
road. 

"April, 1863. Our company was attached temporarily to Early's Division. During 
the intervals of repose we enjoyed from fighting, we held two of the most serious and 
interesting prayer-meetings I ever attended ; a deep seriousness prevailed, and the 
most solemn attention was given while we exhorted sinners to come to Christ. And 
many conversations were held privately with numbers, from time to time, who ap- 
peared to be deeply interested in their souls' salvation. After the second battle of 
Fredericksburg we continued these meetings, holding them nearly ever}' night, during 
which time the interest increased. Several ministers of the different denominations 
visited and addressed us, and some thirty professed a change of heart, at different 
times. An incident occurred during the progress of the battles around Fredericks- 
burg, while opposing Sedgwick's forces. A member of the company, who had 
seemed somewhat seriously disposed, was badly wounded and cried out loudly to 
one who had been taking a prominent part in the prayer-meetings to come and pray 
with him, as he was dying. He replied he could not leave his post while the battle 
was going on. Directly we were ordered to ' cease firing,' and he immediately 
went to the side of the wounded man, who urged him to pray earnestly for him ; he 
felt he was a great sinner, and had no hope nor comfort at the prospect of death ; 
that he had slighted religion while in health, and he bitterly regretted, and desired 
now to find the Saviour in this hour of his extremity. The young brother prayed 
earnestly for him, but the wounded man could derive no comfort ; he tossed in agony, 
and in a short time afterwards died, as he had lived — without God, and without 
hope. What a lesson to those in life and health to use well their opportunity I 

" The interest in these prayer-meetings continued through the spring, and many 
professed to have passed from death unto life. The marked changes in the habits 
and deportment of men and officers were hopeful assurances to us that this was no 
mere enthusiasm. Some who have since passed away in the storm of battle, or by 
the influence of disease, gave proof that they had indeed passed from death unto 
life during this precious season of ingathering of souls, while of others we may only- 
trust that this was truly a seasonable time with them to have trusted in Jesus. And 
we oft looked back to this period with joyful hearts, when so many professed a 
change of heart. For, but a short time before, we had but some fourteen professed 
members of the Church, and now we had over seventy who openly avowed the name 
of Jesus, and all this in a quiet, regular use of the ordinar)' means of grace. We 
felt, truly, the Lord had been gracious to us. 

" From this time forward I noticed in the different parts of the army, and more par- 
ticularly in our own company, what great reverence was paid to the word of God. 
And, in going around the camps early, how common a thing it was to see the men, 
while waiting for breakfast, or even on the first halt in an early march, earnestly 
engaged in reading their Testaments. There was also an increased desire to possess 
a Testament, and particularly a Bible. At this time, spring of 1863, I think the re- 
ligious interest was more general and more deeply impressed on the minds of the 
men than at any other period during the war; at least it was more visible and no- 
ticeable in its effects. The spiritual condition of the men in the army, at this time 
and after, was thought to be deeper and stronger than that of the people at home 
— commonly said, that all the religion was in the army. I never saw this influence 



484 APPENDIX. 

more visibly expressed than at a Sabbath-day service held near Fredericksburg, at 
the old quarters occupied by General Jackson previous to the second baltle of Fred- 
ericksburg or Chancellorsville. It was the first quiet Sabbath after the battles — Sab- 
baih, May lo. The services were conducted by Rev. B. T. Lacy, who preached 
from the text, "All things work together for good to those that love God," etc.: 
Rom. viii. The attendance was very large — between 2,500 and 3,000 — consisting 
of privates and officers of all grades, from General Lee down. I never witnessed 
such thoughtfulness and seriousness depicted on the faces of any auditors. The 
preacher stated this was General Jackson's favorite text — then unfolded the doctrine 
and the peculiar comfort to be derived from it by those who were truly the children 
of God. At this time, the condition of General Jackson was very critical, and the 
men seemed to feel that much depended on his recovery. At the conclusion of the 
sermon Mr. Lacy stated that it might be God's will to spare his life in answer to our 
prayers, and called upon all to join him in an earnest petition to the throne of grace 
that God would be pleased to spare him to us. I heard many broken utterances and 
ejaculations during that prayer, and some declared they tried to pray then, while they 
thought they had never tried to pray in earnest before. Deep and solemn earnest- 
ness appeared written on every countenance. At the conclusion an impressive pause 
followed ; then the preacher said a few w^ords in application of the text — that it 
would be all for the best, whatever God would determine in reference to the event ; 
and then the crowd quietly dispersed to their camps, ever to retain in their memories 
this impressive proceeding. Then, in the evening and on the next morning, the 
news of his (Jackson's) death" was reported in camp, and I was struck with the calm, 
subdued feeling of resignation among the men of his corps — so different, in contrast, 
in the spirit and tone manifested by the people at home, when they heard the sad 
news. The sermon seemed to have wrought its own application in the mind of the 
army, and the feeling prevailed that it was right and all for the best, though we 
could not understand it. 

•' This event was to our minds deeply blessed to the spiritual good of the army. 
And at this particular time — last of May and first of June, 1863 — the deepest re- 
ligious impressions were most plainly evident in our company, and also general in 
the Army of Northern Virginia. Many of our company sought to hold religious 
converse in the day and at night, and very often we talked and prayed with the 
men while walking our beats on guard. Ministers of the different denominations 
came and preached for us. There was a marked absence of sectarian feeling, and 
everything was made to centre on the great and saving truths of the Gospel. 

" During the past winter, while in camp, a majority of the messes had family wor- 
ship, as we termed it, regularly every night, using pine-knots for our lights, by which 
light we were also enabled to do some reading and chess-playing. Several of the 
messes kept up the worship even after we moved from camp and were engaged in 
the spring campaign — simply omitting the singing — alternating in conducting the 
worship. 

" We were now most of the time with the regiment — styled First Virginia Artillery 
— where we found some earnest Christian men, who zealously joined us in estab- 
lishing prayer-meetings in the different companies and on different nights, so that 
we had a prayer-meeting nearly every night in the regiment when we were quiet, 
and preaching regularly on the Sabbath when not on the march, and when the 
weather would permit; also, committees to distribute tracts and Testaments, with 
religious papers, and we had the assurance these means of grace were oft blessed 
for the good of souls. 

"August 23, 1863. While encamped near Gordonsville — Blue Run Church — with 
the regiment, formed a Christian Association, in order to be more united in our 
efforts to do good, which association continued in existence throughout the war and 
did m.uch to improve the moi-al and religious character of the regiment. Good 



APPENDIX. 485 

moral character was the only requisite, while the aim of it was religious; fifty-five 
names M-ere given in the first meeting, to which list were added others continually. 
We had in all some i6o members. We also instituted noonday prayer-meetings, 
which were sustained well at first, but other duties interfered and we changed the 
meetings into night meetings, which were better attended. 

" The religious interest throughout the regiment at this time was very good, and it 
was visible in the good deportment and attention to religious and military duties by 
the men. Removed from this place towards the Rapidan, where the enemy were 
threatening, on the 14th of September, 1863. Novv on the march continually, but 
the prayer-meetings were kept up as often and as regularly as we could find time 
throughout our active fall campaign, and a good attendance prevailed. 

" Went into camp about first of January, 1864, at Frederick's Hall, where nearly 
all the artillery battalions were encamped, in order to get forage conveniently for the 
horses, while the main army was encamped near Orange Court House. 

" Here, from the first, our prayer-meetings were continued regularly, and our asso- 
ciation was reorganized and conducted with renewed interest and zeal. We had 
lost our previous chaplain. Rev. Mr. T. M. Niven, who was compelled to leave the 
army on account of an asthmatic aff'ection, early in the fall. His place was now, 
January 14, supplied by the Rev. H. M. White, who continued with us, ministering 
in the word and oft sharing our duties, till the end of the war; ^//cheerfully bear 
testimony to his zeal and efticiency in the Master's cause. He was universally be- 
loved and respected and will ever be most kindly remembered. As we were 
expecting to remain quiet for some time, the proposition was made in our association 
that we build a chapel, and the men at once got to work and in a short time, though 
under great difficulties, we had the pleasure of worshipping God in our new house 
of worship, which was commodious and pleasant, and which would accommodate 
nearly 300. And often during this winter were gathered together very many to 
worship God. The people in the neighborhood supplied us very kindly with candles, 
and also attended our services on Sabbath and oft on week-days. We invited the 
ministers of the different denominations to come and preach for us, some of whom 
came and remained several days preaching to us. These were happy and pleasant 
days. Yes; the most pleasant I enjoyed while in the army, and this season was 
blessed to many of our souls. Here we had preaching, Bible- class, meetings of our 
Christian Association, and prayer-meetings. Many of the men subscribed regularly 
for the different religious papers ; every mess in our company subscribed for some 
religious paper, and in our company nearly every mess sustained regular evening 
worship ; this was also general in the other companies of the regiment. Committees 
from the different companies were appointed on the state of religion, who reported 
from time to time as to the spiritual condition of the men. And oft and over again 
the active Christians went out by two and three to engage in prayer and seek the Di- 
vine aid and blessing in the great work. 

" And many times t\yo of the young brethren collected the colored servants in the 
camps, and communicated to them the knowledge of the Divine truth. And here in 
this rough log-house we had the pleasure of enjoying one of the most solemn com- 
munion seasons that was ever allowed us. Quite a number of the people living 
near joined with us, and we felt truly we were near to God. 

" We moved, April 16, near Barboursville, and up to May 5, 1864, were enabled to 
enjoy preaching and prayer-meetings, which we held quite often and which were 
well attended by the regiment, and the religious impression continued among the 
men. 

• "The men were always anxious to hear the preaching of the word of God, and a 
number of times, while near the enemy and expecting orders to move, did we have 
the word preached to us, while the men gave earnest attention, increased, probably, 
under the peculiar circumstances in which we were placed. 



486 APPENDIX. 

"And while in position on the fortifications around Spottsylvania Court House, and 
afterwards around Richmond, we held our prayer-meetings more regularly, and 
which were very well attended, and much interest was manifested by the men. We 
had our meetings several times broken up by the sudden call to arms — through the 
bursting of the shells among us, ihe rolling of the musketry in our front or on 
either side — calUng us off to more dangerous occupations. Often, here, while 
awaiting orders to move, did we distribute tracts and religious papers among the 
men, who read them with avidity — anxious to beguile the weary, anxious hours, and 
especially when it was concerning a subject of vital importance. 

" Kept up our prayer-meetings every night while around Spottsylvania Court House 
with great interest, joined also by the infantry who were stationed on either side of 
our pieces for our support. Nor were we alone in our prayer-meetings, for the 
voice of prayer and praise would oft be heard along our lines in the evening, as far 
as the ear could hear, from the different prayer-meetings in operation, and nothing 
made me feel more hopeful that, let the issue of the contest be what it might, many 
would be benefited by a knowledge of Christ throughout their lives, and would 
never regret their army life, owing to their having found Christ precious to their 
souls. 

*' Our prayer-meetings were kept up and well sustained throughout the campaigns 
of 1864, while in line of battle around Richmond, the infantry participating with us. 

" Often did some of the members retire privately into the woods to enjoy a quiet 
season of prayer, and even while going into retirement we fell in with others en- 
gaged in the same interesting employment, which would only stir up the feeling of 
devotion that burned in the heart. 

" These numerous seasons of prayer were very precious ; the company and the 
regiment enjoyed them. Oft when the circumstances surrounding were deemed 
unfavorable, some of the men would urge that the prayer-meetings should be held, 
and those who had recently professed Christ were willing to pray with us in these 
meetings, which was encouraged, hoping it would prove a means of grace to 
them. 

"As to the results' of what seemed to be honest and sincere profession, I am not 
able to state, though the course of some indicates a declension from the solemn vows 
made while in the army. Yet I cannot believe that all or much of what I witnessed 
was mere enthusiasm or hypocrisy. " J. K. H." 

\_From Rev. Dr. Geo. W. Leyburn, Presbyterian Missionary^ 

"Appomattox Court House, February 14, 1867. 

'■^ Rev. and Dear Brother : I saw some little of the revival at that time, at Fred- 
ericksburg ; and I had a last interview with General Jackson, which made a con- 
siderable impression on me, and of which, with some description of his last camp- 
ing-place ; and the congregation assembled there, the last time that he and many 
of his brave soldiers ever attended such a service, I gave some account in one of 
the newspapers. 

" I saw besides something of the revivals and of the religious state of our differ- 
ent armies at various times. But I did not see things under circumstances to enable 
me to contribute to a history with the one exception of Wise's Brigade. Owing 
to my having a son in this brigade and to the fact of several companies from Bed- 
ford, then the county of my residence, being in it, I had more to do with it than 
any other body of our soldiery. Beside a number of other visits made to it, in 
Virginia and the South, I spent more than a week, including two Sabbaths, with the 
regiment, Fourth Heavy Artillery originally (at Gloucester Point) and afterwards 
Thirty-fourth Infantry, during the summer of 1863, while the brigade enjoyed its 
quiet time of several months at ' Chapin's Farm,' below Richmond. I preached 



i 



APPENDIX. 487 

and held religious services during tlie time mentioned, which resulted in the hope- 
ful conversion of some eight or ten. At least as many, I think, had been hopefully 
converted in those Bedford companies before my arrival, part of them in connec- 
tion with public efforts of ministers in ihe other regiments and partly through the 
Divine blessing upon the labors of lay brethren of the regiment, among whom, espe- 
cially in Company H (to which my son belonged), tliere were some excellent, 
working Christian men. I have always thought that, looking at matters ' humanly,' 
it is probable that we should, at that time, have had a great apparent religious de- 
velopment in the Thirty-fourth except that a great awakening had already mani- 
fested itself in two of the regiments (Twenty-sixth and Forty-sixth), whose camps 
were close by — that of the Forty-sixth within a few hundred yards; and the men of 
the Thirty-fourth had, many of them, been attending the services held, day and 
night, in those neighboring camps, and had become interested in them. The faith- 
ful and excellent chaplains of the Twenty-sixth and Forty-sixth, Brothers Wiatt 
and W. G. Miller, can give you a full history of the work in those regiments. But 
I may say that it was powerful, and, in the Twenty-sixth especially, enduring. I 
suppose that few, if any, regiments in all the Confederate armies were more thor- 
oughly pervaded by the influence of religion during the middle and latter periods 
of the war, than the two just mentioned ; and a good deal of the same state of 
things existed, at the same time, in the Thirty- fourth. The Fifty-ninth, which, with 
some artillery and a company or two of cavalry, generally detached, filled up the 
brigade, did not have a chaplain, while I visited the brigade, till the latter part of 
the war, when they were served by Rev. Lyman Wharton, of Liberty, Bedford 
county, of the Episcopal Church. 

" I shall never forget those bright days and brilliant moonlight nights at Chapin's 
Farm, the delicious cool water of the camp wells, the full gatherings in the regi- 
mental chapel and the sounds of prayer and praise ascending from our encamp- 
ment, mingling sometimes with similar sounds from those in the vicinity. 

" Not being able, for reasons already adverted to, to contribute much of actual 
detailed history, I will give you- the general results of my observations on the re- 
ligious state of the Confederate armies, especially within the last three years of the 
war. You, as a more interior man, so to speak, saw some things better than I 
could do. But it may be of some interest and value to know the impressions, some 
of them very strong, of one who was a frequent visitor to the army and was in con- 
stant intercourse, for years, with our soldiers, on the points following. I shall not, 
perhaps, follow the order of them very rigidly. 

•^ I. T/ie compa7'ative state of different pa7'ts of the army,2A respects religion. 
It struck me everywhere, in my extensive intercourse and observation, that the 
morality and religious feeling of the soldiers belonging to bodies detached and 
scattered, in greater or less numbers together, over the country, was much below 
that of those in more regular service. This was owing, I suppose, to the greater 
laxity of discipline and exposure to temptation as well as the want of ministerial 
labor and culture, and the absence, in a great degree, of any public sentiment, even 
such as we may suppose to have existed in the army, to restrain them. I thought I 
distinctly saw a great difference also between those parts of the army that enjoyed 
the labors of chaplains and other means of religious culture and those that did not; 
indeed the difference struck me as exceedingly great and palpable. 

" And these facts, as I suppose, account for the conflicting statements made by 
persons who visited or belonged to different parts of the army, during the war, as 
to its moral and spiritual condition. The facts themselves, owing, I suppose, to the 
causes just indicated, were in exceeding contrast. 

" 2. The attenda7ice on preaching and religiotts services. This varied in different 
regiments and parts of the army, according, I suppose, to the prevalent degree of 
interest in religion, perhaps a good deal according to the amount of faithful labor 



488 APPENDIX. 

employed. And it seemed to me that there were generally, if not always, some 
careless ones who could not be drawn from their tents to the chapel or place of 
concourse. But, instituting the comparison, I would think, from my observation, 
that the attendance in camp, on religious services, was proportionally much larger 
than in our communities at home, taking our population of all classes who are of 
sufficient age and have somewhat of ability to attend church. Perhaps, however, 
the greater convenience of attendance, with the want of employment when ' off 
duly,' had something to do with this state of facts. Nevertheless it afforded the 
greater opportunity, to chaplains and ministers, for reaching the masses of the sol- 
diery by the preached word. 

" Some of the largest congregations I ever saw in attendance on religious services 
were in our camps during the war. I shall never forget a Sabbath night that I 
spent in the spring of 1863, in the then war-battered town of Fredericksburg. The 
feeling of the great revival there was still up, and the soldiers, beginning at an 
early hour to crowd in, by nightfall filled the spacious Episcopal church edifice, 
then used for these convocations, lower floor, galleries, presenting, on a grand 
scale, the unique spectacle, seen only in camp, of a great religious assembly com- 
posed only of males. And when the singing began, what a volume of solemn' 
sound swelled up from the voices of that mighty throng! And when the call was 
made to prayer, how devoutly did the bodies of those men of war and battle bow 
before Jehovah, a whole congregation literally 'kneeling before the Lord,' and set- 
ting an example well worthy of imitation among us, here at home ! After the ser- 
mon, a number came forward, some desiring prayer, as awakened persons, others to 
be admitted to church-fellowship. Brother Owen, whom I learned to admire and 
love almost as soon as I saw him, and his fellow-laborers there, must have reaped, 
in those early months of 1863, a glorious harvest indeed! 

" But I remember now, with even more interest, so strongly has it been photo- 
graphed in my memory by events and scenes soon following, the congregation and 
service, on the morning of that same Sabbath, at General Jackson's head-quarters. 
You probably have visited and remember that last camping- pi ace of his, near 
Hamilton's Crossing, where the tents of the general and his staff were pitched in a 
little valley, between a small stream which ran through it and a wooded ridge 
which girt the vale on the west. On the slope of this ridge, behind the tents, an 
area had been formed, in the woods, for a place of religious assemblage, by felling 
the trees and arranging them for seats. Even an hour before the time for service 
those seats began to be occupied, and before the service commenced many were 
standing around in addition to those who could find a place to sit. It was a grand 
opportunity for tract distribution ; and Brother Lacy and myself carried forth a 
large basketful, which were soon disposed of, as well as some Testaments, in the 
most rapid manner, and almost without our going into the congregation ; you know 
how; for I have no doubt you have sometimes seen how they would rise and come 
and help themselves and their comrades, on such occasions. 

" Yes ! I shall never forget that Sabbath assemblage, at those head-quarters. 
Mr. Lacy supposed a thousand to be present, and I should have judged the num- 
ber to be not less. It was one of the most brilliant and noble assemblies of mili- 
tary men ever brought together. Beside Genei-als Lee and Jackson, I remember 
that Early and Kershaw were there, and a host of officers of various rank. And 
then, those masses of men that filled the rude seats and formed the dark margin of 
those who stood around ; they were some of the very elite of Jackson's Corps and 
of the very flower of our Confederate armies. All over the area, till the services 
opened, the men were seen intently reading the books and tracts. Jackson took 
his seat between two of the tents, in a position where few could see him. Mr. 
Lacy preached a solemn and powerful sermon, from the case of the rich man and 
Lazarus, making it suggestive of the reversed contrasts of this world and the next. 



k 



APPENDIX. 489 

It was the last Sabbath in April, and the day was bright and propitious, except that 
a breeze was stirring, which created some difificulty to the speaker ; but Brother 
Lacy was able, by the power of his full and strong voice, to overcome this ; and he 
seemed to be listened to with profound attention. That was the last, the veiy last 
Sabbath that Jackson ever attended a public service, for it was the one that opened 
the week of the Chancelloi-sville fights, and the next one found him torn with the 
cruel wounds that brought on his death. And often, since that time, have I 
thought, how many of the brave fellows whom I saw there, that day, reading and 
listening, were reading and hearing the messages of heaven for the very last time ! 

" I parted with General Jackson at his tent on the next day, and in the act of 
parting he was led by the conversation to express himself, in regard to the great 
struggle in which the country was then engaged, in a manner that was very impres- 
sive and interesting. But it has become even more so in the connection of those 
words with events immediately following and in the light of events now transpiring 
around us. I communicated the conversation, after his death, to some of the pub- 
lic prints, and do not now repeat it to you because I do not know that it could an- 
swer any purpose for your book. 

" But, returning to my proper topic, I saw a yet larger, grander concourse of sol- 
diers at a religious service, in General Bragg's army, while it was encamped in 
Middle Tennessee, near Shelby vi lie. Bishop Elliott, of Georgia, pi-eached on a 
Sabbath afternoon, being assisted in the services by Dr. Quintard, the present Epis- 
copal Bishop of Tennessee. The congregation formed a vast circle, filling up with 
a dense mass a large opening in the woods, many seated on the logs arranged for 
the purpose, but many standing and forming the outer circumference, and a few, 
Zaccheus-like, clambering up and seating themselves in the trees to see and hear. 

" I have permitted myself, under the impulse of feelings awakened by the recur- 
rence of my memory to those scenes gone by, to enlarge in a degree that I had not 
expected and hardly consistent with method. If I were preparing this for the press 
I should detach a good deal of what I have put under this head and print it sepa- 
rately. But, writing to you privately, I have indulged myself somewhat, in writing 
along as I have done and following my feelings. And now, next, as to 

" 3, Good order and attention, in the attendance on religious services. This, 
so far as my observation extended, was, with scarce an exception that I remember, 
most exemplary. I hardly ever saw the idle hanging about outside the building or 
in the-outskirts of the out-door congregations which infests so many of our places 
of worship at home, and very seldom saw any running in and out or any of the 
whispering and smiling which are likewise too common among us. And no man 
who has ever preached to our soldiers, under tolerably favorable circumstances, will 
fail to say that he seldom ever preached to more attentive hearers. 

" And here I may speak of what I observed as to the estimation in which faith- 
ful chaplains and ministers were held by the soldiers. True, it was not every chap- 
lain that was held in such esteem. Indeed, it seemed to me that our soldiers were, 
as a general thing, remarkably correct in their discrimination. They used some- 
times to say to me, 'We don't like Mr. ; he smokes his pipe and enjoys him- 
self with the officers, preaches sometimes and hardly ever comes among us.' And 
very often I had the pleasure of hearing one and another of them say, ' Our chap- 
lain, sir? ah ! he is a good man; he often comes round to see us, is always at work 
and has done a great deal of good ; we all like him.' I wish, in fact, that minis- 
ters at home were generally held in as good estimation, ' for their work's sake,' as 
they were — those at all of the right stamp — on the part of the soldiers. I cnn tes- 
tify for myself that I have never, anywhere, as a general thing, been treated with 
such consideration, on account of my office as a minister, as among the Confeder- 
ate soldiers ; and I shall ever remember the ' pleasant times ' that I had among them. 
Next, as to 



490 APPENDIX. 

" 4. The acceptability and value of religious books and tracts among the soldiers. 

*' I think I can safely say that I have never seen anything like it in our home 
communities; and I suppose all chaplains and distributers will render the same tes- 
timony, without hesitation. Never, in my view, was there such an opening for 
evangelism by the press. The word of God in the form of a pocket-Bible or Testa- 
ment, was the first thing sought after, and the hymn-book came next ; but it was 
generally necessary — this was my experience at least — only to show one's self, with 
a packet of tracts or religious papers, in the corner of an encampment and begin 
to give out some of them, and you would be very soon surrounded by an eager crowd, 
asking for something to read. And as on these and other occasions, a soldier 
would frequently ask not only for himself, but for some of his mess or of his other 
comrades ; the novel spectacle was sometimes presented of even unconverted men, 
in camp, acting the part of distributers. 

" And, so far as I could see, the matter did not stop with merely receiving the 
books and tracts. They were generally read, and very promptly. Whether this 
ready reception and perusal of printed religious matter was due in any great meas- 
ure or not to the isolation of men in camp and their want of something to occupy 
their minds, such was the state of facts; and it afforded a great advantage in oper- 
ating for their spiritual benefit. 

" In many cases, as you probably know, the soldiers sent home tracts that pleased 
them, while, on the other hand, as I know, such publications were in many in- 
stances the missives of Christian love and solicitude from those at home to the 
sons, brothers and husbands in camp. You are also, no doubt, acquainted with the 
fact that soldiers sometimes learned to read, and even to write, while in the army; 
and I actually knew of more than one case in which a soldier acquired the ability 
to correspond with his wife or other friends at home. In the hospitals this work of 
education was quite considerably carried on. The demand there was great for 
spelling-books, etc., and my wife at one time prepared a little primer for soldiers 
(which it was designed to enlarge in another edition), at the request of the Evan- 
gelical Tract Society; and I was informed by our secretary, Mr. Miller, that there 
was a large call for it. 

'* After saying what I have done under these heads, I would declare my own 
general experience as to what I may call the susceptibility of our soldiers to re- 
ligious effort. I have never found any class of men so approachable on the subject 
of their salvation. I could talk with them about it almost anywhere ; often did so 
on the cars. And here I found one of the admirable uses of religious tracts. A 
tract almost always afforded an easy way of introducing religious conversation, 
whilst it also answered the purpose of ' clinching the nail ' of what was spoken. 

"A word as to 

"5. The character of the piety prevalent iti the army. 

" For the first year or so, as a general thing, the transition to camp-life seemed to 
throw a baleful influence over the morality and the religious character of young 
men going to the army. But a happy change seemed to take place afterward, ow- 
ing, perhaps, in a good measure, to the fact that religious effort for our soldiers was 
so extended and systematized in the after years of the war. But I have always 
been disposed to think that the character of the chaplaincy improved, after the first 
year or so; did it not? And I have supposed this to be owing to the fact that 
some men went into the army as chaplains, at first, under the influence more or less, 
of the war spirit or other secular motives, who, in time, dropped off. The army 
lost some excellent ministers by ill health and other causes; but it 'sloughed off' a 
number of unfit ones after the first enthusiasm of things had worn off; and I sup- 
pose that most of those who remained or came in afterwards were men who had 
their eyes open to the rough realities of the soldier-minister's life and acted under 
true motives. For my own part, I am free to say that, with the exception of the 



\ 



APPENDIX. 491 

foreign missionaries that I have had acquaintance with, I have known no such body 
of faithful, devoted servants of God as the chaplains, in general, of the Confeder- 
ate army. 

"And, as to the prevalent tone of piety, among the soldiers converted in the 
army or otherwise professing religion, I think it was certainly higher than, as a gen- 
eral thing, it was at home at that time; and I am inclined to believe that it was 
higher than it is in most of our Churches and communities at home at any time. 
Ahiiost everybody joined in the psalmody of the camp-services, and the novel ex- 
ample was often to be seen there of fine congregational singing, where most of the 
parts were well supported, without a female voice. The devoutness of attitude and 
manner I have already spoken of, and the attention to the preached word. 

"And as it seemed to me, so too it seemed to strike almost every minister and 
Christian that went to camp, that there was a somewhat peculiarly earnest, hearty 
character about the piety of the soldiers. And I have really feared that our Chris- 
tian young men from the army would lose something of the warmth and life of 
their piety in coming home to some of our churches. 

" In this connection I would say that, with a very few exceptions, those who pro- 
fessed conversion in the army, within my acquaintance, have stood well, most of 
them very well. Some of them promise to make valuable church-members. 

" I have known of several of the army converts, one of them a distant relative 
of mine, who have turned their attention to the ministry. I have no doubt that 
the number would have proved to be a good deal larger but for the fact that the 
war itself so threw back our young men, that survived, in their education, and the 
destitution of means, on the part of many of them, for carrying on a course of 
study. 

" On the whole, having, from my relation to it, been familiar with the army, my 
general impression is, that there has never, in this country, been such a field of 
evangelistic effort as it presented, and that such effort has never, anywhere among 
us, produced larger fruits. 

"And never, in my opinion, in all the history of religion on this continent, has 
any body of ministers had the privilege of doing a more enviab'e, if I might not 
say glorious, work than that fulfilled by the faithful chaplains of the Confederate 
armies. How many a poor, brave fellow was cheered in his separation from home 
and 'the loved ones,' or comforted in the languishings of sickness or wounds; how 
many a one led to Christ, that went to glory from a hospital bed or a gory battle- 
field, or that has come back to serve God and the Church, through the self-denying 
labors of those servants of God ! If there has been, in our generation, a minis- 
terial work and crown to be coveted, it seems to me it is that of one of our army 
chaplains who did his work earnestly. 

"And so, in more or less degree, of zealous, Active Christian men in the army, 
especially officers, What a noble work of usefulness did some of them accomplish ! 
The influence, eminently, of Jackson, what was its extent, what its value ? In his 
example, and in that of General Gordon and many officers of every grade, and of 
untitled men in the ranks, a glorious demonstration has been given to all the world 
in ail time, but especially to our Southern people, that the highest Christian char- 
acter may be attained and conserved, and the noblest Christian usefulness achieved, 
under circumstances apparently the most unpropitious for Christian culture ; for what 
outward circumstances could apparently be worse, in this regard, than those of the 
camp, war and battle ? 

" I am glad that you have undertaken the history. I am not certain whether you 
design it to extend to any but the Army of Northern Virginia. But such a chronicle, 
in regard to all our armies, ought to be executed, and will be, I should think, the 
most striking and important part of the religious history of our times. 

" I do not know whether what I have now written you will furnish you any ma- 



492 APPENDIX. 

terial for the pages of your book. You are welcome to make any use you choose 
of my testimony, though I might prefer somewhat to revise it, in case any portion 
of it should be quoted. 

" Believe me very fraternally and truly yours, 

" G. W. Leyburn." 

\_From Re%>. Hugh Roy Scott, Episcopalian.'] 

"Baltimore, January 28, 1867. 

" Dear Sir : I saw in a paper some days since that you were collecting materials 
for a book describing the religious history of the Army of Northern Virginia. I 
send enclosed a tract which I wrote describing a very interesting work of grace that 
occurred in the division of artillery under General Pendleton. 

"lama Protestant Episcopal clergyman, and during the war had charge of a 
Church in King George county, Virginia. I made frequent visits to the army, and 
always found our noble men eager to hear the word of God explained, and on two 
or three occasions was gratified by seeing the truth take hold of many hearts. But 
rarely in my life have I seen anything like the awakening at Camp Nineveh. 

" The Captain K referred to \\\ the tract was Captain Thomas J. Kirkpatrick, 

a lawyer of Lynchburg, Virginia. 

" Praying that your important work, besides preserving a record of God's wonder- 
ful dealings with our army, may be a blessing to our deeply afflicted land, I remain, 

" Very truly yours, 

" Hugh Roy Scott." 

\_From Mrs. Dr. Fairfax, sent me through Mrs. Mary Ctistis Lee.] 

"A private from Mississippi, by the name of Galliard, was brought into the hos- 
pital at the University from first battle of Manassas with a terrible wound in the thigh 
and one in the chest. From his first entrance into the hospital his manners were so 
polite and he exhibited so much patience that he soon got the name of the old gen- 
tleman ; not that he was old really, but the sufferings of these poor fellows caused 
them frequently, when mere boys, to look like men in middle life. Mr. Galliard 
steadily declined in health, and his attendants were comforted by finding that the 
prospect before him did not dismay or distress him, but that he \vas well prepared 
for it. When his end was approaching, a lady stood by his side, with a clergyman. 
Being struck with the bright expression on his face, she remarked to the clergyman 
that she believed Christians frequently experienced a foretaste of heaven before 
death. He heard but could not speak, and put out his hand, pressing hers most 
expressively. Soon afterwards, recovering his speech, he said, with a bright look 
and cheerful voice, ' I'm almost ovdr the river.' 

"Another, by the name of Thomas, about whose spiritual condition a good many 
fears had been expressed, and who had been in an anxious state of mind, just be- 
fore he expired clapped his hands and looked upwards with such evident joy t^iat 
no one present doubted but that he had experienced at that moment acceptance 
with God. 

" Rev. Mr. Duncan, of Richmond, told us of his being called up at midnight to 
see a sick soldier, and finding him full of joy in the prospect of his release. He 
said : ' The first time I ever prayed was when I knelt on the battle-field of Manassas 
and thanked God for having spared my life to see my mother again. Now, I shall 
never see my mother in this life, hut I shall soon see a little sister who has gone be- 
fore me, and when called to my last account I shall make my report just as I would 
to my commander-in-cliief, without fear, because I have an all-sufficient Saviour.' 
Then he asked a young man who was his attendant to sing ' Jesus, Saviour of my 
soul,' and when he came to the lines, ' Cover my defenceless head with the shadow 
of Thy wing,' he repeated them and said, * O, how sweet ! ' " 



APPENDIX. 493 

\_From Rev. George F. Bagby, Baptist, Chaplain Forty-sixth Virginia, and A7-77iy 

Evangelist. '\ 

" Elizaville, Kentucky, March 13, 1867. 

" My Dear Brother : I enlisted as a private soldier in Company A, Fortieth Vir- 
ginia, May, 1861. Labored thus, preaching every Sunday, holding prayer-meet- 
ings every evening in different commands, and distributing tracts. Soon began to 
see fruits ; several professed conversion, without any extra efforts in way of pro- 
tracted meetings. Was commissioned chaplain Fortieth Virginia, July 19, and con- 
tinued to labor as above until March, 1862. Resigned chaplaincy, and soon ac- 
cepted an appointment as colporter in Wise's Brigade. Held a protracted meeting 
with one of the commands, afterward of Fourth Virginia, Colonel Goode. Several, 
say four or five, professed conversion, and several others were revived and reclaimed 
to the cause. In 1863, I forget what month, together with Brother A. Broaddus 
and Brother W. E. Wiatt, one of the most faithful men I ever knew, chaplain of the 
regiment, commenced meeting in Twenty-sixth Virginia. This meeting was exceed- 
ingly interesting from first. The work of grace commenced and continued more 
than a month without abatement. No undue excitement, and nothing extraordinary 
connected with meeting except that the hardest cases seemed to be reached, and one 
professed infidel, a sprightly young man, professed conversion. The number who 
professed conversion at this meeting, including the number who professed subse- 
quently — the revival influence continued several months — probably reached 200. 
Every company of this regiment was in the habit of holding a prayer-meeting every 
night after the meeting. I never knew one of these young converts to refuse to 
pray when called on publicly. After this meeting, held another with a battalion 
at Chaftin's Bluff; as result of this meeting from twenty to thirty professed con- 
version. 

" When this brigade was sent to South Carolina I went to Army of Xorthern 
Virginia. The results, etc., of my labors there you know something of. 

"In December, 1863, I followed the brigade (Wise's) to South Carolina; labored 
much among the troops there, scattered as they were in isolated camps from Charles- 
ton to Pocataligo and beyond, a distance of twenty-five or thirty miles. About this 
time scarcely ever preached a sermon without immediate fruit. Preached to a de- 
tached company, said to be ver}- wicked, about eighty in number, about seventy-five 
present at service. Directly after sermon one of the officers came forward and made 
an open profession of conversion. About this time visited James Island ; commenced 
a meeting in a deserted Presbyterian meeting-house. Congregation, at first small, 
gradually grew, and before meeting closed, which lasted one month, soldiers might be 
seen running an hour before time for service from regiments a mile off in order to 
obtain seats in the house. About one hundred professed conversion here. The 
converts belonged mostly to Colquitt's Brigade, which afterward did such good 
service at Olustee, Florida, and subsequently around Petersburg with Army of 
Northern Virginia. 

" I was then called from my army labors to raise money for Colportage Board. 
During my labors as agent met with an incident which may prove interesting. 
While laboring among soldiers about Matthias's Point, in beginning of struggle, was 
much discouraged by impression which was ver\- prevalent — ' chaplains were, if not 
nuisances, at least, supernumeraries.' But preached on. Upon visiting a certain 
village in South Carolina, 1863, received a letter from an unknown lady asking that 
I would call on her, alleging a special reason. I was sick, so my lady friend called 
on me and said : 'A devoted friend of mine left home for. the army, ver>' wicked ; 
accidentally heard a Mr. Bagby preach near Matthias's Point, in Virginia. This ser- 
mon led him to consider his eternal interests, which resulted in his conversion, and 
he fell a few days after in the first battle of Manassas.' She wept profusely, while 
I united my tears of gratitude with hers. 



494 Appendix. 

" I think, as near as I can judge, that about 400 professed conversion in connec- 
tion with my labors during the war. So far as I have been able to ascertain, these 
converts have been among the most faithful among our church-members. Very few 
have been the cases of backsliding which have come under my observation; indeed, 
I can recall not one, thank God. 

" I have written very roughly and hurriedly ; if the above facts wall help you I 
shall be glad. I love you, my dear brother, above all, because you are a faithful 
laborer in our Master's vineyard. Hope to see you in Memphis. It must, indeed, 
be a privilege to be near our illustrious general-in-chief. Say to him, if you choose, 
that a poor Baptist preacher in Kentucky remembers him gratefully and prays for 
him frequently. 

" If I can assist you further with your book call on me. I am truly glad you have 
thought of this book. It is much needed. 

" Yours very sincerely and affectionately, 

" G. F. Bagby." 

\^From Rev. Harvey Hatcher, Baptist, Army Evangelist,'\ 

" 293 HoLLiNS Street, Baltimore, Maryland, April 8, 1867. 

^^ Brother y ones : Your request in the Herald for all who preached to the men 
composing the Army of Northern Virginia to send a detailed account of their 
labors to you has been noticed, but I thought that my labors were too meagre to 
deserve a part in your history. After thinking over the matter, I decided to send a 
few items, which you can use as you deem proper. In May, 1863, I went to the 
Huguenot Springs (convalescent) Hospital, located in Powhatan county, Virginia, 
and aided the chaplain, Geo. W. Hyde, for three weeks in a series of meetings. 
About thirty men professed faith in Christ. I baptized some six or eight. Rev. D. 
B. Winfree, of Chesterfield, preached five times in the meeting. In June, 1864, by 
the request of Brother Hyde, I aided him again at the same place for two weeks. 
Our meeting was suddenly closed by a large number of men coming to the hospital 
and occupying the chapel. About twenty professed to have a hope in the Gospel. 
Hyde baptized six or eight while I was there and some after I left. 

"In November, 1864, I conducted a meeting of great interest and pow^er near 
the Howlett House, in a chapel built by the Twenty-eighth and Nineteenth Virginia 
Regiments, of Pickett's Division. It lasted two weeks and about thirty professed 
faith, some of whom were killed soon thereafter. 

" Good order always prevailed, and the best attention always given to the word 
preached. I labored in a meeting at Dover Baptist Church, Goochland county, in 
the fall of 1863, wdiere many from the hospital attended and some were converted, 
but I forget the number. From there I went to Leigh Street Baptist, Richmond, 
and aided Rev. J. B. Solomon, where there was considerable interest, confined 
almost to the soldiers from the surrounding hospitals. Some professed conversion, 
but I took no note of it and can't give the particulars. I send these items for your 
inspection, though I doubt their worth for your use. 

" God bless you all in Old Virginia. 

" Yours fraternally, 

" Harvey Hatcher." 

[Fj'om Rev.H.M. White, Presbyterian, Chaplain Hardazoa/s Battalion, Artillery. '\ 

" Glade Spring, Virginia, March 20, 1867. 
^^ Dear Brother : I am sorry not to be able to give you more statistics. AH of 
my papers, except a pocket note-book, were burned in our head-quarters wagon, on 
the retreat to Appomattox Court House. I will answer your questions in order, as 
fully as possible. 



APPENDIX. 495 

"I entered upon my duties as chnplain of Ilardaway's Battalion of Artillery, 
November, 1863. (At that time it was known as the First Regiment, Virginia Ar- 
tillery, commanded by Colonel J. T. Brown, Soon after my becoming its chaplain, 
it was reduced in size to four companies, and Colonel R. A. Hardaway ordered to 
take command.) If my recollection serves me rightly, the four companies (Rock- 
bridge, Captain Graham; Roanoke, Captain Griffin; Powhatan, Captain Dance; 
Third Howitzer, Captain Smith) did not exceed, all told, five hundred men. Out 
of these five hundred, nearly two hundred were church-members at the close of the 
war. I know, certainly, that Rockbridge Battalion had 57 ; Roanoke Battalion, 37 ; 
Powhatan Battalion, 42,= 136, to which add 40 for the fourth (I have lost the list), 
and make 176, or about one-third of the whole. 

" During the eighteen months of my stay among them, exactly y^r/y were added 
to the Church. (This number is a part of the 176 above.) The great revival of 
1863 was shared by our battalion, and its fruits reaped not long before I joined it. 
Those who professed conversion at that time fell under my care and, as far as I 
know, with but a single exception, kept the faith firm unto the end. And of this 
exception I must say that, although he fell once by intemperance, yet he deeply re- 
pented, confessed his sins, and finally died from wounds, rejoicing in hope. There 
was no revival in our battalion, in the commonly received sense of the term, during 
my connection with it, nor do I recollect any incidents of remarkable conversion. 
Some were converted who did not connect themselves with any Church, not even 
the ' Camp ; ' e.g., Lieutenant-Colonel David Watson, for a long time Captain Second 
Howitzers (Richmond), and lieutenant-colonel of our battalion when killed at 
Spottsylvania. His life had been irreproachable for a long time, but we did not 
know, not even his most intimate friends, that he had any hope until on his death- 
bed he said to his mother, ' I have long since taken Christ as my salvation.' E 

M did not cc^nnect himself with any Church until his return home. Not a few, 

I think, held back fearing that their change of views and life were due to the hard- 
ships and perils to which they were daily exposed, and might not prove genuine 
after a i-eturn to the luxuries of civil life. 

" It was my habit to preach twice a week anyhow, unless prevented by insuperable 
obstacles, and often I preached four or five times. When our battalion was covering 
a front of a mile and a half, in the trenches around Richmond (winter of 1864-65), 
I had religious services in each company separately once a week. Only when in 
winter-quarters at Frederick Hall (1863-64) did I conduct a Bible-class with my 
own hand, but there were such in the several companies conducted by some of 
themselves, and I was told they were at ii/nes well attended and interesting. More- 
over, the men had prayer-meetings among themselves every week, winter and 
summer, in separate companies. I M'ould sometimes attend these as a listener. I 
cannot estimate the number of tracts I distributed ; one of our men (J. K. Hitner, 
Rockbridge Battery) always kept them on hand ; so did I. One winter I had a 
library of books, which I gathered from different places, mostly religious; it ctmi- 
prised al^out fifty volumes. Upwards of one hundred religious papers were received 
a week ; perhaps one hundred and fifty. 

"Colonel J. T. Brown (our colonel until January, 1864,) was a sincerely pious 
member of the Episcopal Church ; Colonel R. A, Hardaway, of the Methodist ; Cap- 
tains Smith and Dance, Lieutenants Blair, Read, Cunningham, Bagby, were active 
Christians. The gallant Colonel R. M. Stril)bling experienced a change of heart, I 
hope, while major of our battalion ; soon after he left us to take command of 
General Dearring's old battalion, he made a public profession of religion. Our 
officers, without a single exception, upheld my hands in every way possible. Our 
quarter-master (Captain Christian) used to lend me his wagons to haul logs to build 
our chapels. We built one each winter of my connection with the battalion. 
Having come out to extreme south-western Virginia, soon after close of the war, I 



496 APPENDIX. 

know but little about the pos^ belhim history of our men. I get letters occasionally 
from some of those who professed conversion while I was chaplain, evincing a very 
gratifying spirit. I have the first to hear of who has returned to the world, but this 
is purely negative testimony. 

" I will add an anecdote or two about General R. E. Lee, which I received 
second-hand and cannot, therefore, vouch for. At Mine Run, November, 1863, on 
Salilxuh morning, our army in line of battle confronting the enemy, General Lee 
and his staff, accf)mpanied by General A. P. Plill antl his staff, came riding along 
the line (the shells now and then bursting in the tree-tops and at points rapidly). 
On reaching the end of A. P. Hill's line, they came suddenly upon a party of 
ragged soldiers worshipping God, and notwithstanding the fact that they were ex- 
pecting the fight to begin at any moment, after the example of General Lee the 
whole party dismounted and joined in the worship, with cap in hand and reins on 
the arm, unti' it was concluded. As our guns were immediately on the left, and 
some of our boys received it from the infantry present at the time, I believed it. 

"At Chapin's Farm, early in spring of 1864, General Lee sent his military car- 

ringe to Richmond for Dr. Peterkin. During service Dr. P knelt \.o pray; as 

usual, the men stood up or sat still, for most part; but when General Lee knelt in 
the dust, all dropped down instantly, 

" I feel a deep interest in your book, and wish you * God-speed ' fti it. 
• " Fraternally yours, 

" Henry M. White." 

\_From Rev. John R. Bagby, Baptist, Lieutenant Pozvhatan Artillery.'] 

" Powhatan County, Virginia, April, 1867. 

'^Dear Brother Jones : I am glad you have undertaken so noble a work, and am 
only sorry that I can contribute so little towards it. Li giving information like this, 
I do not know where to begin nor what to say after I have commenced. 

" The Powhatan Artillery, of which I was a member, was, in the beginning of the 
war, a component part of what was known as P^irst Regiment, Virginia Artillery, 
and afterwards in the command of Colonel J. T. Brown, and finally, after his death, 
in Hardaway's Battalion of Artillery. 

" The first winter of the war, then, you perceive, we were under the Rev. General 
Pendleton, w+iose character you know. He preached nearly every Sunday to us 
during that winter, in a chapel we erected. The services were beneficial in taking 
the minds of the men back to their old home churches. I think about sixty per 
cent, of the officers of the regiment were religious at that time, and some of them 
deeply pious. I might mention the Rev. J. D. Powel, of my company, who had 
prayers at morning and evening roll-calls, and one or two prayer-meetings during 
the week, when in camp. He left the army in spring of 1862. Also, my captain, 
W. J. Dance, had prayers often in his own tent, and engaged publicly in Divine 
services. His example for good was wonderful with his own men. He maintained 
his Christian character throughout the war. There was Captain Kirkpatrick, of 
Ivynchi^urg, too, a noble Christian man, who exerted a happy influence. But I can't 
specify further. Among the men, there were some devoted men vi'hose religion 
shone brightly. I might name George W. Baily, of my company, Gilliam, of 
Amherst Battery, etc. We had no revival during that winter. 

" The spring of 1 862 was a new era in our history. We left General Pendleton, 
and were attached to Colonel J. T. Brown's Artillery, M'here I suppose there might 
have been about fifty per cent, of religious men among the officers, and something 
over this among the men. Colonel Brown favored religion and encouraged chap- 
lains, tracts, prayer-meetings, etc. But, coupled with him, we find the indomitable 
L. M. Coleman, whose whole weight was on the side of Christ, who often sent for 



APPENDIX. 497 

me to talk of plans for religious services, etc. He lived a monument of God's 
grace, and died rejoicing in the faith. This was an active campaign with us, but 
we kept up religious services as well as possible. All who were really pious before 
held their ground, but the chaff was sifted out. That winter we were in Caroline 
county — had no chapel, but had meetings occasionally — grew rather lukewarm. In 
next campaign was the memorable Pennsylvania disaster, and after our return to 
the Valley we set more regularly to work for Christ, and later in the season on this 
side of the mountains we held nightly meetings conducted by officers and men, 
which grew in interest till all became more or less under its influence, and many a 
one dates his conversion to that period. Those were happy times, and long to be 
remembered. Old Blue Run Church will not soon be forgotten. Some of those 
men you had the pleasure of immersing in Orange county. These men held out 
well and went to work for Christ and, when they came home, united with the 
Church. Among the prominent workers in these meetings were the noble men of 
Rockbridge Battery, some of the Howitzers, and some of my own men, the most 
prominent of whom was George W. Baily. Many a telling exhortation and prayer 
were made by officers and men of our battalion. 

" The winter following was one of remarkable interest in our battalion. We 
erected a commodious chapel near Frederick's Hall, had a regular series of services, 
formed a Young Men's Christian Association, which worked most delightfully. All 
the religious men of the battalion were gathered in, and latent energies called forth, 
and influences exerted, which had a most salutary effect upon the general toije and 
character of our men. Many religious papers were circulated, and thousands of 
tracts were scattered. During this winter Dr. Burrows, Dr. Read and many others 
favored us with visits. 

" In the next and closing campaign of the war we were found most of the time in 
the trenches, yet not forgetful of our obligations to God. Many a prayer-meeting 
did we hold in hearing of the enemy, and many a soul was made to rejoice. Here 
we lost George W. Baily (died of disease), in Richmond Hospital, in full assurance 
of faith. He was as promising a young minister as I ever saw; devoted to the 
work, and longing to get into the harness. His labors in the army will never be 
known till eternity reveals them. The men all had implicit confidence in his piety, 
and his burning appeals were well received. He was a noble Christian soldier and 
a bright intellect. Colonel Hardaway, our last commander, was a.Christian man 
and a gentleman of high order. He was an advocate of religious services, and 
humane in his treatment. 

" We lost many good men during the w^ar, and we hope they were sustained by 
their religion. I can't recall any very striking facts in connection with the religious 
interest of our men, and as I did not keep any diary, I have to depend on memory 
altogether. I suppose during the war our command averaged about fifty per cent, 
of religious men, and out of these at least forty per cent, held on to their religion, 
and were worthy examples to those around them ; and of those who came home 
safely, all have, I believe, been more useful Christians than they were ante belltnn. 
The restraining and constraining influence of the religious portion of our command 
upon the rest was untold. There was a moral tone given to our command, which, 
I suppose, but few others enjoyed. This was a constant thing, not much fluctuation 
in this power for good. My constant employment, when I could get them, was to 
scatter tracts, Testaments, hymn-books, etc. These were always joyously received, 
and I hope did much good. You know something of my labors, hence I desist 
further statements. I wish I had time to deal more in particulars, but can't. I 
have hurriedly scratched off these facts, which you can use as you think best. May 
the Lord bless you. 

" Your brother, etc., 

" J. R. Bagby." 

32 



498 APPENDIX. 

\_Fro)?i Rev. Dr. T. H. Pritchard, Baptist, Ar77iy Evangelist. '\ 

" Petersburg, Virginia, April 4, 1867. 

"Dear Brother Jones : In common with all who love the cause of Christ, and 
are devoted to the late Confederacy, I feel a profound interest in your proposed 
work on the religious history of the Army of Northern Virginia. I was in the army 
so short a time that I did not imagine my personal experience would be of service 
to you. It is true that I never enjoyed the work of preaching the Gospel so much 
in my life, and that my labors were not without some fruit. I baptized fifty odd 
soldiers, most of them while the army was lying around Orange Court House in the 
fall of 1863 ; but I should not have written you at all on the subject had not a friend 
suggested that I should give you an incident of my experience while preaching to 
Gordon's and Wright's Brigades, camped under Clark's Mountain to watch the 
fords of the Rapidan. 

" You remember that Mr. Andrew Broaddus and myself were at the house of old 
Brother Brown, and while there the Lord was pleased to bless our efforts to the con- 
version of some forty or fifty men, most of them in Gordon's Brigade, At that meeting 
Colonel John Hill Lamar, who commanded the Sixty-first Georgia Regiment, and 
was killed at^Monocacy, Maryland, was converted. But it was not that which I sat 
down to tell you. 

"At the close of our meeting a few of us went down to the river at a ford near 
Brother Brown's — I don't remember the name of it — and I baptized some eighteen men 
in the Rapidan, in the presence of the enemy's pickets. Several of them sat on a fence 
in full view of us, and within range, with their guns across their laps, and witnessed 
the ceremony. I don't know that you will find any place in your book for the anec- 
dote ; but as the historian should collect many facts, and from them disseminate the 
truth and spirit of the times, I send it. 

" Our people remember you with affection, and would be glad to see you in our 
pulpit again. 

" With much regard, I am your brother in Christ, 

" T. H. Pritchard." 

\^From Rev. J . W. Walkup, Presbyterian, Chaplain Ninth Virginia Infantry^ 

"Appomattox, April 4, 1867. 

"Dear Bj'other : I received your letter a few days since, and am glad that you 
have undertaken the work you mentioned, and hope that you may be abundantly 
successful. I labored for so short a time in the army (about ten months), and on so 
limited a field, that I have but little of interest to narrate. I was chaplain of the 
Ninth Virginia Infantry, Barton's Brigade, Pickett's Division, Colonel Phillips com- 
manding. 

" I preached to my own regiment every Sabbath when it was in ray power; also 
often to the whole brigade, and sometimes to other regiments and brigades. Often 
also I preached during the week, in the day or at night. I distributed a great many 
tracts and religious papers among our men, which were generally very readily, and 
sometimes gladly, received, 

" I was present a part of the time during the revival in Orange county after 
our troops returned from the battle of Gettysburg. There was great interest on the 
subject of religion then through our whole division. The preaching of Dr. Pryor, 
Rev. J. C. Cranberry and others was much blessed. A number, I know not how 
many, professed religion in my brigade, some fcM' in my own small regiment. When 
we were ordered to march many were still anxious inquirers. Among others who 

professed religion there was the assistant surgeon of our regiment. Dr. H . He 

afterwards gave abundant evidence of a change of heart. I saw much of him for 



APPENDIX. 499 

months afterwards, and can say that no subject appeared to have anything like as 
much interest for him as the subject of religion. CIn-istians and religious books 
were his chosen companions. On our march from Orange Court Hoiise to Rich- 
mond I frequently noticed the men reading their Testaments. While we were 
camped at Petersburg our colonel made a public profession of religion. He hoped 
that he had been converted some months before. He aided me much in my work, 
gave me every encouragement. I trust that he is a truly pious man. His Bible' 
was daily read, 1 believe, and often he sought religious conversation with me. On 
one occasion, as I was sitting on a log meditating, he came and sat down by me, 
and said: ' Tell me something good.' 

"We had some very good Christians in our regiment. One named Bailey, 
from Portsmouth, assisted me by his prayers. He fell dead at the battle of 
Drewry's Bluff, and lay on his back with a sweet, happy smile on his face as it looked 
heavenward. 

" In our brigade there was but one regiment which had no chaplain, and I think 
there was more open wickedness in that than in all the others combined. 

"On one occasion, as I passed through my regiment distributing tracts, Sunday 
morning before preaching, I found all behaving well, not an oath, no cards nor any 
open violation of the holy day. 1 then went to this regiment which had no chap- 
lain for a similar purpose, and to invite them to preaching. I was grieved to find 
them in many tents playing cards either for amusement or money, and could per- 
suade but five of them to attend preaching. 

" I once could have told you much of interest probably, but it has passed from 
my mind. 

" Colonel C , of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, who fell at the battle of the Half- 

Way House, between Petersburg and Richmond, interested me much. He was an 
amiable, noble-hearted man. Several times I conversed with him on the subject of 
religion while he was well, and I trust that he died a Christian, though he had 
made no profession publicly. I saw him after he was mortally wounded. He ap- 
peared engaged in prayer, and his countenance wore an expression of resignation. 

" Yours fraternally, 

" J. W. Walkup." 

\^From Rev. J. H. Colton, Presbyterian, Chaplain Fifty-third North Carolina Regi- 
ment j\ 

" McKensie's Bridge, Moore County, North Carolina, August i, i866. 
" Rev. J. William Jones : 

"Dear Brother : In Daniels's Brigade, afterwards Grimes's, there were four regi- 
ments and a battalion — Thirty-second, Forty-third, Forty-fifth, Fifty-third, and 
Second Battalion^all North Carolina. These all had chaplains, only the Thirty- 
second and Second Battalion for a time without. The brigade was made up under 
or in anticipation of the conscription act, consequently there was not that intelligence 
which was found in the first volunteers, 

" I believe, however, the morality of the brigade would compare favorably with 
any other, but upon this I can speak only with assurance for my own regiment, the 
Fifty-third North Carolina Infantry. Gambling was not common at any time, 
drunkenness not prevalent, and swearing not very common. 

"We joined the Army of Northern Virginia, June, 1863, but Brother Brooks, of 
the Second Battalion, and myself were absent from Gettysburg until February, 1864. 
In the fall of 1863 Brother Thompson, of the Forty-third, had a revival in his 
regiment. 

" Returning, myself, just before the campaign of 1864, 1 entered earnestly into the 



500 APPENDIX. 

work of spiritual preparation for the campaign. We built a neat chapel (in the con- 
struction of M^hich 1 was much indebted to General Rodes for hauling), and Brother 
Brooks and I joined in worship. We held meetings every night alternately for a 
month, and part of the time a prayer-meeting at 12 o'clock. There were about 
ten in my regiment an, I some two or three in his who joined the Church, most of 
them the Baptist Church. This was near Orange Court House, and at the time of 
our marching there was still considerable seriousness in the brigade. Brother Rich- 
ai'dson, of the Thirty-second (Methodist), also had a revival at the same time, and 
some twenty professed Christ. 

" I had generally prayer or preaching at night when it was practicable. J. W. 
Bivens, Company O (Baptist), held regularly every night after roll-call prayer in his 
company, so long as he remained. He lost an arm, June, 1864. Then his brother, 
J. A. Bivens, a subject of the revival of April, 1864, took his place until he was 
mortally wounded at Winchester, September, 1864. A. B. West, a licentiate of the 
Baptist Church, Company K, also rendered me efficient service both by example and 
conversation. He was not well educated, and did not undertake to preach. He 
was killed September 19, Winchester, 1864. R. A. Moore, another licentiate of the 
Baptist Church, Company G, was very active. He was more intelligent and better 
educated than the others, and as he was generally on the ambulance-corps or nurse 
in the hospital he did much good. 

"April campaign, 1864, we numbered about 300 in. camp; about one-fourth were 
members of some Church — the Baptists in excess, then Methodists, then Presbyte- 
rians, with some Lutherans. 

" I distributed a great many tracts, and generally received a number of copies of 
religious newspapers weekly. 

" The men were generally supplied with Testaments, as I obtained a supply at two 
different times. They always seemed particularly anxious to get Testaments. I 
suppose there was at least a fourth who could not read, and in one company nearly 
all. The officers of my regiment were generally moral men, and most of them 
members of the Church, though none were active Christians. The colonel, at his 
own suggestion towards the close of the war, gave orders for the band to play some 
sacred music after the roll-call, and prayers by the chaplain, at which he attended. 
" It was my privilege to labor in the hospitals at Gettysburg for three months, but 
I have nothing very remarkable to relate. The wounded were always glad to see 
the chaplains coming into their tents, and heard gladly the word of God. 

" There is one incident which illustrates the power of religion in forgiveness of 
enemies and the triumph of faith over death. 1 have thought of dressing it up and 
giving it publicity, but other duties have interfered. I have not now by me the 
record of the name of the soldier, but I am pretty sure it was Dunston, of Petersburg, 
Virginia. His case having become very offensive he was carried to the pest-house, 
which was an arrangement of tents separate from the rest. This was attended by 
Federal nurses, and one was a tall fellow by the name of Smith. He was an atten- 
tive nurse, as I might remark their nurses were generally, but not so much evidently 
from Christian principle as from policy, as it kept them out of the field ; but he was 
very profane, and frequently gambling. Dunston lingered several days. The first 
time I saw him he told me he was a Christian, and I, believe had become one in the 
army. He was quite talkative and very hopeful, and urged me to come again. I 
called again about the time he began to die. The scene which I witnessed was 
quite affecting. He was entirely conscious, and was almost in ecstasy. He called 
Smith to his bedside, and as that tall soldier stooped down he threw his arms around 
his neck, and said : ' Billy, you have been very kind to me; *Billy, you must quit 
swearing; you are too good to go to hell ; quit swearing, Billy.' Then, after mani- 
festing much outward affection towards his nurse, he released him, but continued 
for some time reaching towards heaven and clasping his hands and saying he saw 
Jesus, and in this happy frame he died. 



APPENDIX. 501 

" With many wishes for your success in your undertaking, I am, in Christ, yours, 

"J. H. COLTON." 

\_From Rev. jfames McDowell, Presbyterian, Chaplain Palmetto Sharpshooters. '\ 

"Manning, South Carolina, March 27, 1867. 
" Rev. J. Wm. Jones : 

'■'■Dear Brother : I was chaplain of the ' Palmetto Sharpshooters,' Jenkins's Bri- 
gade ; and after he was killed in the battle of the Wilderness, Bratton's Brigade, 
Longstreet's Corps. I became chaplain in July, 1862, and continued so until the 
surrender of the army at Appomattox Court House. 

" I usually had the following services in my regiment : On Sabbath a prayer- 
meeting about sunrise, preaching about 1 1 o'clock, and preaching or prayer-meeting 
in the afternoon or night. In the week we generally had prayer-meeting about sun- 
down or at night. During the last winter we were in camp the church-members 
had an interesting prayer-meeting, which some twenty of them conducted in turn. 
These were held every night. I had a Bible-class for awhile, but it was not very 
large nor very flourishing. 

" I distributed a great many religious papers, tracts. Bibles and Testaments. 
Number not known. 

" We had quite a revival of religion in our brigade at one time while stationed 
near Petersburg. More of our men joined the Baptist Church than any other de- 
nomination. 1 suppose I received fifteen or twenty into the Presbyterian and 
Methodist Churches. Means used were preaching, religious conversation and 
prayer. 

" From the after-lives of those professing conversion I have reason to think that 
that a number of cases were genuine conversion, but some others did not give good 
'evidence afterwards of having been really changed in heart. 

" The majority of the officers of my regiment were ungodly men, and their influ- 
ence was against religion. Those of them highest in rank seldom attended any 
religious service. Some of our captains and lower officers were pious, and exerted 
a good influence, but none of higher rank than captain in my regiment. Some of the 
other regiments were much more blessed in this respect, having pious colonels, who 
exerted a good influence. General Jenkins (our brigadier) was a professor of re- 
ligion ; General Bratton, who succeeded him, was not. 

" I think upon the whole, though there were a great many very wicked men, that 
still religion exerted a considerable power on the general morals and efficiency of 
the army. 

" 1 think there were several men in the brigade, who were killed, who thought of 
devoting themselves to the ministry ; but none that I know of who survived the 
war, and none at any time in my regiment. 

" Perhaps some of the folloM'ing incidents may be of some service to you : 

"I asked a young man of my regiment, wounded near Lookout Mountain, who 
afterwards died : ' What would you take for your hope that you are a Christian ? ' 
He answered : ' Not ten thousand worlds.' 

"A lieutenant in the same hospital, wounded same time, who died after the am- 
putation of a leg, said, in answer to my inquiry as to the cause of his not being a 
Christian : * I have often wanted to be a Christian, but I put it off" from day to day.' 

"Another lieutenant of my regiment, wounded at Spottsylvania, who also died, 
said : ' I had fixed as a time to attend to my salvation when the war was over and 
I returned home ; ' but, poor fellow^, death came long before that period. Both 
cases show the evil of procrastinating. 

"A very wicked man in my regiment was shot in battle and died in a few minutes. 
He used the following, or very similar language, when shot : * Lord God, have mercy 
on my miserable soul ; I am lost.' 



502 APPENDIX. 

"Another man in my regiment was severely wounded. He said to me in the 
hospital when it was likely he would die : ' How awful it is for a man to lie down 
and die in his sins, and not attend to his salvation until it is too late. Lord, have 
mercy upon me.' And yet he got better and turned back to the world, and con. 
tinned to neglect his salvation. 

*' I asked a young man wlio professed religion in my regiment and joined the 
Church : ' What are you willing to do for Christ? ' He answered : ' To die for him.' 

"A noble young man in my regiment, and who had been since before the war a 
member of the Presbyterian Church, was mortally wounded above Richmond. He 
lived several days. One day, before praying with him, while I was reading to him 
the Twenty-third Psalm, when I had read in it as far as the words, * I will fear no 
evil,' he exclaimed : ' I fear no evil ; Christ is my Friend ; O blessed Redeemer ! ' His 
death was a triumphant one. He did not seem to fear to die any more than to go to 
sleep, and a number seemed to be deeply impressed by his calm and happy death. 

"Another man in my regiment was mortally wounded. I prayed with him before 
he died. He was a professor of religion, and I believe a true Christian. As he was 
sinking in death I asked him : ' Can you still trust in Jesus ? ' His dying countenance 
lighted up with a sweet smile, and he answered : ' I can trust in Jesus; I can trust 
in Jesus.' That name seemed precious to him, and was like music in his dying ears, 

"Another young man in my regiment was wounded, and after some time died in 
Jackson Hospital ; but he was no Christian, I fear. I directed him to Jesus as the 
only Saviour. One day I asked him if he trusted in Christ, or in his prayers and 
works, to save him. He answered : ' I trust partly in Christ, and partly in my 
prayers and works.' I fear this is the mistake of many who do not take Christ for 
their entire and only Saviour. He one day said : ' If my name was only on the 
Church roll I think all would be right with me.' As if a mere profession of re- 
ligion would have been sufficient. How many ways Satan has of deceiving men ! 
He said, one day, ' I never was taught the Scriptures. Father is a wicked man. I 
did badly when a boy, and mother wanted to correct me, and father would not let 
her, and so I grew up badly.' 

" I was requested to visit a young man of the First South Carolina Regiment, 
mortally wounded at Spottsylvania Court House. I did so, and found him happy, 
though his sufferings, I think, were great. He said : ' My happiness is inexpressi- 
ble, it is beyond all expression; tongue cannot express it.' Upon my inquiring as 
to the ground of his trust, he said : ' I have not a bit of trust in myself. I am a 
brittle thread: lost, lost, lost, without a Saviour ' (or 'but for the Saviour'). 

"I asked him if he felt the truth of those words — 'Jesus can make a dying bed 
feel soft as downy pillows are.' He answered, ' I know it; I feel it sensibly.' He 
spoke of his widowed mother, and said, 'I love my mother; but I love my Sav- 
iour much more.' He clapped his hands, and blessed the Lord. 

" Not far off I witnessed a most triumphant death-bed scene ; an experienced 
Christian of the Third South Carolina Regiment. He said, ' I am weaker, but my 
way is clearer than ever before. God is my Rock and my Fortress.' He spoke of 
his great love for Christians, and spoke of this affording him evidence of his being 
a Christian ; for, said he, ' We know that we have passed from death unto life be- 
cause we love the brethren.' He spoke of his intense sufferings, but said, ' Christ 
is very p7'ecious to me.' Again he said, * I hope I will know you in heaven,' and ' I 
believe in heavenly recognition.' He trusted in Christ alone, z.\\^ said, 'We are 
not saved by works, but by the unsearchable riches of Christ.' Again he said, 
' No denominations are in heaven ; loftier thoughts than these will engage our at- 
tention th'ere.' It was a privilege to hear his talk, and as I looked on his corpse 
next day, I thought what a glorious exchange his spirit has made! 

" A friend of mine asked a poor young man in a hospital as to his prospects for 
eternity. He was too far gone to speak, but wrote these words on a strip of paper, 



i 



APPENDIX. 503 

* I've been going the bad way all the time ; it is too late, too late.' How dreadful 
to be without Christ ! what a blessed thing it is to have Him for our friend, living 
and dying. 

" With kind regards for you, and best wishes for God's blessing on your enterprise, 
" I remain yours very truly, James McDowell." 

[From Rev. W. L, Curry, Baptist, Chaplain Fiftieth Georgia Regiment.'\ 

"Near Milford, Georgia, March 20, 1867. 

**Dear Brother Jones : ... I was appointed chaplain of Fiftieth Georgia about 
September i, 1862, just as we were entering upon the first Maryland campaign. 
For several months the army was in such constant motion that little could be done 
besides occasional preaching. 

"Soon after the Fredericksburg battle, December 13, we went into winter-quar- 
ters. I then commenced pastoral work — visiting among the tents, holding prayer- 
meetings, etc. I commenced a sunrise prayer-meeting, which was attended, of 
course, only by the more earnest of the brethren, who were quite few in number, 
and kept it up for many weeks. I continued efforts of this kind — preaching, too, 
quite often for some six months, without any visible fruits of my labors. But about 
the expiration of this period, I could see serious faces in our little congregations, 
and we had new attendants at our sunrise meeting, and some who would hardly 
speak to the chaplain before would now make their way to his tent to inquire what 
they were to do to be saved. Oh, you can imagine what overflowings of joy I ex- 
perienced at these tokens of the Divine presence. It was almost the ' first fruits ' 
of all my feeble efforts in the cause of the Master. The number of inquirers in- 
creasing, I instituted inquiry meetings, which were held at same place as the sun- 
rise meeting. Perhaps I should have stated that this place was a certain tree some 
two or three hundred yards from the camp. We would open the inquiry-meeting 
with singing and prayer, and while the brethren M'ould keep this up, I would take 
the anxious out to converse with them. It was not long before I had the privilege 
of leading a number of noble young fellows into the water, and among them one 
who afterwards was head and shoulders above all the others in zeal for the cause, 
in power for usefulness, and in humble, sincere piety. This was Brother Timothy 
Stallions, who, at his conversion, did not know his letters, though a man of family. 
He commenced to study, and in a few months, notwithstanding the hindrances 
and disadvantages of a soldier's life, he was able to read the Bible quite readily, 
which he often did in our meetings, adding also frequently pointed and earnest 
remarks. He soon had a name in the whole brigade for courage and piety, which 
he bore untarnished throughout the war. He is still living, and when I last heard 
from him was preaching Jesus in his same quiet way — by his devout walk and his 
fervent exhortations. 

" The interest I mentioned above continued almost unabated for some six or 
eight months. It was a very quiet work, but permanent in its effects. Of course, 
our regular meetings were broken up when the army left winter-quarters. But all 
through the summer of 1863 I had the pleasure of baptizing a few at nearly every 
place where we remained any length of time, beside testifying to the conversion of 
others who united with other denominations. 

" Our corps (Longstreet's) was ordered to Tennessee, you remember, in the fall 
of 1863, when till late in the winter we were marching and fighting almost without 
intermission. In the spring of 1864 the work commenced afresh. When I en- 
tered my regiment, and for some time afterward, there was no other chaplain pres- 
ent with the brigade, and I had brigade services. This arrangement was continued 
after the appointment of other chaplains. At Gordonsville, Virginia, in the spring 
of 1864, our brigade was blessed with a considerable refreshing— about thirty from 
the different regiments making profession within two weeks. The most of these 



504 APPENDIX. 

were baptized at one time, just in front of Dr. Quarles's house, in a beautiful stream 
that runs by it. The occasion was quite a touching one. The appointmeiit for the 
baptizing having been circulated, the citizens of the vicinity were present, and 
among them quite a collection of ladies. Dr. Quarles's female school turned out. 
The ladies joined in the singing, and the bare sound of female voices brought tears 
to many a soldier's eye. 

" When we left Gordonsville, which we did on the 4th of May, we plunged at 
once into the severest campaign of the war. The army lived in the trenches, as 
you know, all that summer. My brigade enjoyed several seasons of respite ; that 
is, they would be relieved from the fatigue and danger of the front line, and would 
be kept in reserve in the rear. One of these seasons was protracted more than six 
weeks, during which time we held from three to five meetings a day. It was a pre- 
cious season. The men were relieved from all duty, even guard- duty and cooking, 
so that we had nothing to do but hold meetings. A prayer-meeting at sunrise, an 
inquiry-meeting at 8, preaching at 1 1, a prayer-meeting at 4 for the success of our 
(Confederate) cause, preaching again at night, was the usual programme of the 
day. Our prayer and inquiry-meetings were held under a large, sweet-gum tree, 
about two hundred yards from the camp. We usually had from fifty to seventy- 
five brethren at these, not one of whom refused to lead in prayer, and not a few 
would interest us with remarks and exhortations. The preaching was done in the 
bivouac (we had no tents except such as the men carried on their backs). The re- 
ligious interest of the brigade seemed more general than I had ever seen it before. 
I have looked around over the whole camp during preaching, and failed to see a 
single loiterer. Some forty or fifty made profession at this time, and I baptized 
them, or rather the most of them, in a pond, the only one in the vicinity, where we 
were exposed to the fire of the enemy ; but not one of us was hurt on such occa- 
sions, though the bullets whistled most unpleasantly around and in the midst. 
Brother Campbell, of the Tenth Georgia, was my efficient co-laborer. 

" I have but few of my army acquaintances near me now. It will always be 
pleasant for me to testify to their piety and devotion in the army. 

*' If the above can be of any service whatever to you, you may be assured you 
are welcome to it, and I send it with strong regret that I could not serve you more 
efficiently. 

" I am sorry I have had to write this in a hurry. As well as I re<nember, over a 
hundred made profession of religion in the brigade after I entered it, who con- 
tinued steadfast during the M^ar and so far as I have heard from them are pious yet. 

" Your brother, 

" W. L. Curry." 

\_From Rev. J . J . Hyman, Baptist, Chaplain Fo7'ty-ninth Geoi'gia Regimejit.'] 

" I left my home on the loth day of March, 1862 ; joined the Forty-ninth Georgia 
Regiment as a private soldier on the ist day of May. I was commissioned chap- 
lain of the Forty-ninth Georgia Regiment. The battles around Richmond prevented 
us from having regular Divine service. After the battles were over, the Forty-ninth 
Georgia Regiment was attached to General J. R. Anderson's Brigade, afterwards 
General E. L. Thomas's. At this time I was the only chaplain in the brigade (four 
regiments). I, being young, knew but little about the duties of a chaplain, but was 
willing to do anything in my Master's cause. Being in the command of General 
Jackson, we had but little time for religious service during the whole of 1862. On 
the 1 6th of December, 1862, we went into quarters at Camp Gregg, six miles south 
of Fredericksburg, Virginia, where I opened regular night service ; sometimes in 
the open air, at other times (when weather was bad) in tents. Congregations were 
very good; often I have seen large numbers leave the door of the tent, being unable 



1 



APPENDIX. 505 

to get in, when the snow was all over the ground. Finding that we had gone into 
winter-quarters, I commenced preaching regularly three times a week to each regi- 
ment in the brigade. About the ist of Februaiy, 1863, the good Lord poured out 
His Spirit upon us ; hundreds were seeking the Lord for pardon of sins; almost 
daily there were some going down into the water, being buried with Christ in bap- 
tism. At this time our brigade was so scattered that I had to preach to each regi- 
ment separately ; the interest was so great that I preached for weeks from four to 
six times in a day. Just as I was about to break down, Brother E. B. Barrett came 
from Georgia as a missionary and gave me much assistance. He joined himself to 
the Forty-fifth Georgia Regiment as chaplain, and at once entered upon the faithful 
discharge of his duties ; about the same time Brother A. W. Moore came on as 
chaplain of the Fourteenth Georgia Regiment. The battle of Chancellorsville broke 
into our service for a few days; when we went back into camp Brother Moore left 
for Georgia, leaving Brother Barrett and myself in the brigade. We preached night 
and day, baptizing daily in a pool we prepared for the purpose. In the month of 
May, 1863, I divided my labors with Thomas's and Wright's Georgia Brigades. I 
baptized during the month fifteen in Forty-ninth Georgia and sixty-five in Wright's 
Brigade. The day that the army was ordered to march on the Pennsylvania cam- 
paign, yes, while the regiments were being ordered to fall in, I was baptizing near 
Wright's Brigade. Baptized forty-eight, all in twenty minutes. At another time, 
near the same place. Brother Marshall and I baptized twenty-six. The long-roll 
being beat, we left our pleasant camp; was in active campaign until about the 
1st of August, when we camped near Orange Court House. Here again we met in 
Christ's name and He met with us. Never before have I seen the like; often we 
would meet to worship, having only the dim candle-light; hundreds would be there. 
When an invitation was given for prayers there would come so many I knew not 
what to do with them. At this time Brother Barrett was at home, but Brother 
Moore was present. I did all of the preaching that I could. At this time kept my 
command supplied with tracts, papers, etc. In August and September I spent some 
time with General Walker's Virginia Brigade, where souls were being converted. 
On one occasion, in August, 1863, I went down to Rapidan river with Brother An- 
derson, chaplain in General Walker's Virginia Brigade, to baptize. We met about 
2,000 soldiers, besides many citizens. He (Brother Anderson) went down into the 
water and baptized twelve. After he came out I opened service in our usual way 
by singing and prayer. Such music I never before heard. It sounded as though 
the heavenly host had come down to take part in our earthly worship. I went 
down into the water and baptized twenty-three. This state of feeling continued 
with but little change until about the 1st of December, 1863, at which time Thomas's 
Brigade was ordered to the Valley, below Staunton, Virginia, where we were in 
active campaign during the whole of winter. While in the Valley, Brother J, H. 
Taylor became chaplain of Thirty-fifth Georgia Regiment ; Brother Moore resigned 
as chaplain of Fourteenth Georgia Regiment. About the 1st of April, 1864, we left 
the Valley and returned to Orange Court House. Just as we had arranged for and 
were having regular Divine service the battle-cry was again heard and we hurried 
off to meet the enemy. We halted not until we stopped near Petersburg, Virginia. 
During the months of July and August, 1864, our meetings were truly interesting. 
I was the only chaplain present in our brigade, preaching both night and day ; I 
visited almost daily Scales's North Carolina Brigade, also Third and Fourth Vir- 
ginia Regiments, preaching as I went, seemingly with much effect. I preached from 
three to five times per day all during July and August, besides baptizing almost 
daily. The labors of these months broke me down and I was forced to leave my 
command on sick furlough. From this time I was not of much service to the bri- 
gade until winter. During my absence the prayer-meetings were kept up by the 
private members. February, 1865, we buiU Us 3. large chapel near the line of works 



506 APPENDIX. 

around Petersburg. We organized a Sabbath-school of 120 pupils. At this time 
religious services were truly interesting. We baptized a great many. From here 
we marched on the 2d of April, 1865, leaving our beautiful caipp behind. We 
halted at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, and ' yielded to overwhelming num- 
bers and resources.' Here I leave the field of blood (ever looking back upon many 
sacred spots where the Lord blessed us) with mingled grief and joy. I baptized 
while in the army 238 soldiers. Number professing conversion, 500. Preached 
about 500 sermons, besides exhortations, lectures, etc. 

*' Yours fraternally, 

*' John J. Hyman." 

[^From Rev. A. M. Marshall, Baptist, Chaplain Twelfth Georgia Regiment. '\ 

" Eatonton, Georgia, March 22, 1867. 

"Dear Brother Jones : I was, as you know, chaplain Twelfth Georgia Regi- 
ment, Doles's Brigade, but did not get my appointment until just before the battle 
of Sharpsburg. As soon as the army crossed back on the Virginia side, I com- 
menced a meeting in the regiment, which increased in interest until several regi- 
ments and battalions became interested. I called to my assistance Dr. Stiles, 
Brother Nelson and yourself. The meeting was one of great interest, and promised 
to result in many conversions, but was suddenly broken up one night by the order 
to get ready to move. General Jackson attended this meeting several times, and 
remarked after hearing Dr. Stiles preach one night, that he was ' more convinced 
than ever, that if sinners had justice they would all be damned.' 

" There was no opportunity given for persons to join the Church; but there was 
every reason to suppose that a number were converted. This was one of the first 
revivals of religion that I heard of in the army. And I learned at that meeting 
how to conduct services in camp. 1 was for a long time the only chaplain in 
Doles's Brigade, and on that account had a great deal to do. I never kept any ac- 
count of the number of sermons I preached, nor of prayer-meetings. It was our 
practice to hold prayer-meetings every night when in camp, and frequently of a 
night when on the march. We had Bible-classes composed, I think, of men in all 
the regiments of the brigade — Twelfth, Fourth, Twenty-first and Forty-fourth, 
Georgia. I supplied these regiments as well as I could with Testaments, religious 
papers and tracts, but have no idea how many were distributed. 

" The most remarkable revivals in this brigade were at Guinea's Station, 
Orange Court House, and Morton's Ford. The first was during the winter of 1862, 
and the others were during the summer of 1863. 

" At Orange Court House we made such arrangements as would accommodate 
the whole brigade, and I wrote to Brother Geo. B. Taylor, who came and preached 
very acceptably for-several days; other brothers preached frequently, and the meet- 
ing increased in interest until we moved to Morton's Ford. I think there were 
twenty-five or thirty conversions in the meeting. At the ford the meeting was more 
interesting than before. Here I was assisted by Brother A. T. Spalding, of Alabama, 
and W. N. Chaudoin, of Georgia. These brethren did most of the preaching, and 
by the aid of the Spirit they preached with power. There were forty or fifty con- 
versions in this meeting. 

"As far as I am able to judge, those who professed religion in the army are as 
sincere as those who professed at home. Of the ofhcers of the Twelfth Georgia, 
it affords me pleasure to speak of Colonel Willis, who always rendered me every 
assistance he could, and gave every encouragement to the men to attend meeting. 
He was one of the best ofhcers in the army, one of the best friends I ever had, one 
of the most promising men I ever knew. He was killed while in command of 
Early's old brigade, at Bethesda Church, in June, 1864. His earnest request was. 



APPENDIX. 507 

that if he was ever wounded he wanted the surgeon to tell him his true condition. 
Dr. Etheridge told him that he was. mortally wounded. He said: 'I am no more 
afraid to die than I am to fight for my country.' Lieutenant-Colonel Hardeman, 
Major Carson and Dr. Etheridge, were all professors of religion, and were always 
ready to do all they could for the cause of Christ. There were several captains 
and subordinate officers of whom I would like to speak if I had time. 

" I am yours, etc., A. M. Marshall." 

\From Rev. C. H. Dobbs^ Presbyterian^ Chaplain Twelfth Mississippi.'\ 

"Kosciusko, Mississippi, March, 1867. 

**Dear Brother: I regret exceedingly that about the close of the war I lost 
nearly every vestige of information concerning the data you desire, as far as papers, 
manuscripts, etc. are concerned, hence the impossibility of giving you much in the 
way of statistics. You can, perhaps, obtain from Mrs. Brown, of Richmond, Vir- 
ginia, a copy of the by-laws, etc., of the Christian Association in Harris's Brigade, 
from which you can find the number of church-members, conversions, etc., in the 
brigade up to that period. 

"You will bear in mind the fact that I did not receive my appointment (as chap- 
lain Twelfth Mississippi Regiment) until January, 1863. I then found the brigade 
camped about eight miles from Fredericksburg, on or near the road leading from 
Hamilton's Crossing to Chancellorsville. The ground was covered with snow, and 
as I approached the regiment, unknown to most of the men, having received the 
appointment at the solicitation of the colonel (Taylor), while on a furlough to Mis- 
sissippi, I must acknowledge that my heart sank within me. Being a chaplain I 
was viewed with suspicion by many who afterwards became my warmest friends. 
The situation of affairs was somewhat thus. There had been no regular preaching 
in the regiment since its organization. Rev. A. A. Lomax, who was a private, had 
held prayer-meetings and preached now and then, as he could find time. But, all 
in all, religion was at a low ebb. In every tent was a pack of cards; from every 
quarter came up blasphemous oaths, not far off" was what they called * hell's half- 
acre,' or ' the devil's camp-ground,' where keno, chuck-a-luck, etc., were engaged 
in by hundreds from every part of the army. The daily wickedness exhibited then 
and there was truly appalling. Yet I knew that many of the best families of Mis- 
sissippi were represented in this brigade. I knew there were many of the sons of 
pious parents, and that many a mother's prayer was ascending to God for her be- 
loved son, who was now in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity. I knew 
the arm of God was not shortened, nor His ear closed to the prayers of His people. 
I took courage ; on Sunday numbers came out and stood upon the snow, listening 
attentively, but as soon as services were over, many of them rejoined their crowds, 
who were ' playing cards ' at arm's length from the pulpit. Things continued thus 
about one month. Great revivals were in progress in Jackson's Corps, but we were 
dead. About this time I went to Richmond for books, tracts, etc. While in the 
Christian Advocate office some young soldier thrust into my hand a copy of the 
constitution, by-laws, etc., of the Christian Association of Anderson's Brigade, 
Hood's Division. I never saw him afterwards, and know not what became of him. 
It was a simple act on his part, but it put in motion a course of action the results of 
which will never be known*lintil the judgment. The idea flashed upon my mind, 
'just what we need, concert of action. The soldiers of Christ in the army must 
be brought together and stand breast to breast.' 

" I amved at camp at 4 o'clock next morning. The association was organized with 
six members ; the next night about twenty joined, the next forty, until the number 
soon reached two or three hundred. A nightly prayer-meeting was organized. On 
the third night, when an opportunity was afforded for remarks, a man of about 



508 APPENDIX. 

forty years of age arose and, trembling with emotion, said he was a backslider ; 
asked us to pray for him. Another said he felt, he knew, he was a sinner, and 
plead with us to pray. My heart beat against fny ribs with Joy. I saw joy written 
upon the countenance of every Christian. God was blessing us, and we were en- 
couraged to proceed. A temporary protection was made, and we continued our 
services day and night. The brigade was now ordered to Morton's Ford, and, 
owing to the hard service in picket-service, fortifying, etc., the work was somewhat 
retarded. Brother Duke, chaplain of Nineteenth Mississippi Regiment, returned 
from a furlough about this time and rendered valuable aid. About this time, how- 
ever, the battle of Chancellorsville occurred, and we were again stationed near 
Hamilton's Crossing (three miles from that place and three from Fredericksburg). 
The work now commenced in earnest again, the sheaves were numbered by hun- 
dreds, and the number of inquirers was so great that it was impossible to talk with 
them all. By this time we had the earnest co-operation of Brothers Lomax and 
Gordon, privates in the Twelfth Mississippi Regiment, and Brothers Morrison and 
Leonard, of the Nineteenth. The two former, ministers of the Baptist, and of the 
latter, the second, Cumberland Presbyterian, and the first. Old School Presbyterian; 
also of Brother Duke, chaplain Nineteenth, Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 
Duke at this time received the appointment of captain of scouts, and went to Mis- 
sissippi. Rev. A. E. Garrison, sergeant of the Forty-eighth Regiment also came 
forward about this time and co-operated. 

" These meetings were now interrupted by the Gettysburg campaign. The men 
were on picket-duty at the foot of the hills below Fredericksburg, near that creek in 
the plateau. We had assembled for preaching. While engaged in prayer orders 
came to move on at once. When I arose from prayer, I found kneeling about me 
only three or four men ; but the others were silently putting on their munitions and 
paying respectful and earnest attention to the prayer. The meeting was broken up; 
on the march, however, we continued the meetings as opportunities occurred, and 
just previous to the battle of Gettysburg we had services, and a number were bap- 
tized and received into the faith. When the army returned from this campaign, we 
were camped on Jones's Farm, near the Rapidan bridge. This was in September. 
The work now commenced in earnest. Rev. A. A. Lomax received the ajipoint- 
ment of chaplain Sixteenth, Rev. A. E. Garrison, Forty-eighth, and G. R. Morrison, 
Nineteenth. The Sixteenth and Forty-eighth were placed in winter-quarters on 
the picket-line near the river, and the Nineteenth, with the Twelfth, on Jones's 
Farm. We remained in this camp from September to spring, when the campaign 
commenced against General Grant. And here was the scene of our greatest tri- 
umphs; cards had given place to the word of life, and the men were all eager in 
their desire to learn the will of God ; and I found many of them prompt and 
earnest in assisting in the meetings, but more especially in hunting up the anxious, 
and furnishing me with the data. We had here the young converts'' prayer-meeting, 
the sunrise prayer-meeting, frequently preaching at noon, and always at night, except 
when providentially hindered. The Christian Association met usually on Saturday. 

" The following papers were received weekly and distributed in the Twelfth : 
Central Presbyterian, ^o Q.o^\t%\ North Carolina Presbyteriaii, 20 copies; South- 
ern Presbyterian, 12 copies; Religious Herald, 20 copies; Christian Observer, 8 
copies; Advocate, Richmond, 15 copies; Advocate, Augusta, 15 copies; Soldier's 
Visitor and Friend, each (semi-weekly) 20 copies. Number per week, 160. 

" Besides these, about 10,000 pages of tracts and a circulating library of fifteen or 
twenty volumes. 

" For months I often preached once every day, and sometimes twice. 

" Two Bible-classes were kept up most of the time, and in almost every regiment 
there were organizations for reading the Bible aloud at stated periods. 

" There was but one revival, which began as above-stated and continued accord- 



APPENDIX. 509 

ing to our opportunities of using the means until active hostilities commenced with 
Grant. After, there were but few opportunities of preaching, tiiough prayer-meet- 
ings, etc., continued to the close of the wai. November, 1864, owing to a chronic 
dysentery, I was forced to leave the army, having been able to do but little pre- 
viously for several months. 

"A young" man opposed to religion, who never attended on the means of grace, 
looking upon professors of religion with a malignant hatred, was sent to the Corps 
Hospital, near Spottsylvania (at Stewart's), with pneumonia. I nursed him, pro- 
cured him medical attention and such luxuries and condiments as could be obtained. 
There was a good deal of irregularity in the medical department, and it was difficult 
to obtain proper treatment. Through my endeavors he was relieved, and I attended 
him carefully. One day he told me he had been under the impression that the 
Christian religion ' was a humbug,' but my disinterested conduct toward him had 
undeceived him, and he intended now to lead a different life. He joined the 
Church, and as long as I knew him he was a zealous Christian. 

" As many as twenty or thirty cases might be mentioned of those who acknowl- 
edged the instrumentality of a mother's prayers. 

" One young man, who had been long anxious, and in doubt, found relief while 
we were praying, and was afterwards a zealous Christian. 

" The regular, earnest, zealous preaching of God's word seems to have been the 
means most especially blessed. The number of converts, I presume, in the brigade 
was about five hundred (I can't say for certain, I think it is a very low estimate). 
One fact under this head : During my first winter in camp, I ' bunked ' with six 
reckless fellows. I had the pleasure of seeing them all members of the Church, 

" But few instances came under my observation of ' falling away.' Many died 
happy; in their sufferings were supported. I never knew one to regret the step. 

" In the brigade fifteen or twenty line-officers were converted, some of whom 
were very efficient and influential. Our great drawback in the beginning was ow- 
ing to the ' wickedness in high places.' 

" The influence of religion was most excellent. The belter the men, the better 
the soldiers. 

" While we were camped near Orange Court House, an invitation was extended 
to Rev. Mr. Lacy to deliver a lecture on the life, character, etc., of General Jack- 
son. Several neighboring brigades joined with us. General Lee was present, and 
about one-third of the general officers of our corps. The singing on the occasion 
was grand, and the effect on the men very beneficial. Dr. Lacy repeated the re- 
mark, of which I presume you have heard him speak, that General Jackson made 
in regard to repentance when suffering as he was. That, unless he had previously 
made his peace with God, he did not think it would be possible to collect his 
thoughts to contemplate such a subject then. That remark arrested the attention 
of several who were subsequently converted, 

"About this time we had a communion, when the sacrament of the Lord's Sup- 
per was administered. This, I remember, occurred on the day Grant commenced 
moving. About sixty were received on that occasion into the Church, and there, 
for the first and last time, commemorated the love of their dying Lord. Never did 
I enjoy any communion more. Never did I witness one more solemn and impres- 
sive than that. I can recall the scene now% and many of the upturned, anxious 
faces appear as they did then, while our excellent Brother Witherspoon, of Davis's 
Brigade, presented the truth to them. Their bones for many a long day bleached 
upon the hard fought fields where they fell. But they fell with the assurance that 
God was with them. 

" It is a little remarkable that very few of our church-members survived the war. 
Perhaps the explanation is that they were more fearless, but it is true. You know 
but few, good or badj returned home ; but the proportion is quite remarkable j e. g.y 



510 APPENDIX. 

one company: before campaign, 23 — 17 church-members, 6 not; returned 
home, 10 — 5 church-members, 5 not, as near as I remember. This, of course, is 
to some extent an exceptional case ; but I only know of one company which had a 
greater proportion of non-professors killed. 

" I know, my dear brother, you will consider these meagre facts ; but I hope 
they will be of some service to you. I wish you a hearty God-speed and a splen- 
did success in your work. Yours fraternally, 

" Chas. H. Dobbs." 

\^From Rev. Dr. Renfroe, Baptist, Chaplain Tenth Alabama Regiment^ ^ 

"Talladega, Alabama, January 31, 1867. 

"Dear Brother Jones : In attempting to give you some account of the religious 
character of Wilcox's old brigade, in the army of Northern Virginia, I find that I 
am entirely dependent upon my memory. I loaned my • notes ' of events to a 
brother, who now informs me that he cannot lay his hand on them, having mislaid 
them. 

" The Tenth Alabama was the regiment of which I was chaplain. The brigade 
was composed of the Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Fourteenth Alabama Regi- 
ments. I reckon this brigade comprised as noble a body of men as ever served in 
any army. I reached my post of duty while the army was in winter-quarters at 
Fredericksburg, in the early part of the year 1863. There were then. three other 
chaplains in that brigade, but they were all then absent but one. Very litfle preach- 
ing had been done in the brigade up to that time. Many Christian soldiers and 
other good-disposed men told me that I could do no good in preaching to soldiers, 
but all seemed glad to welcome me among them. I was acquainted with a large 
number of the regiment before the war. The first Sabbath after I got there I 
preached twice, and from that time until I left them, I had a large attendance upon 
worship, and as good order in my congregations as I ever had at home. About 
that time the Rev. Mr. Bell, of Greenville, Alabama, visited the Eighth, which had 
no chaplain. He and I preached daily for two weeks. He baptized a Mr. Lee, of 
Marion, Alabama, the first profession that I saw in the army; though there were 
many men in the brigade who were Christians before they went to the army, and 
who maintained their religion. The chaplains of the brigade soon returned. We 
built arbors, and preached regularly to large and attentive congregations — on 
through the spring this continued — only interrupted by the battle of Chancellors- 
ville. Then came the campaign to Gettysbui-g. I preached thirteen sermons on 
that campaign, but not more than half of them to our own brigade. I preached 
several sermons in line of battle. After we returned to the south side of the Po- 
tomac, at Bunker's Hill, we had several sermons in the brigade. Two of the chap- 
lains (Mr. Rains, of the Fourteenth, and Mr. Whitten, of the Ninth) remained at 
Gettysburg with the wounded. Up to this time I saw but few signs of the good 
work — I saw no evidences of revival — I heard of no conversions in our brigade. 
Then we fell back to Orange Court House. There we at once established arbors — 
one in the Fourteenth, one in the Tenth, and began to preach. Rev. Mr. Johnson, 
chaplain of the Eleventh, and Mr. Cumbie, Lieutenant in the Fourteenth, did the 
preaching at the Fourteenth's preaching place. Their labors were blessed, and 
many were converted. At the preaching place of the Tenth I did the preaching 
for the most part. This lasted for about six weeks, in which time I was visited and 
aided by Rev. A. E. Dickinson, of Richmond, who preached for me a week; then 
by Rev. J. B. F. Mays, of Alabama, who preached nearly a week for me, God 
greatly blessed our efforts. I have stood at that place at night and on Sabbaths and 
preached, as it seemed to me, to a solid acre of men. I think I have seen as many 
as five or six hundred men, in one way and another, manifest at one tirne a desire 



APPENDIX. 511 

to be prayed for. I have never seen such a time before or since. There were as 
many evidences of genuine penitence as I ever noticed at home — yes, more. Al- 
most every day there would be a dozen conversions, and there were in the six 
weeks in the brigade, not less than five hundred who professed conversion. Not 
all of our brigade, for there was a battalion of artillery camped near us, and other 
brigades, who attended our preaching, many of whom professed religion. We es- 
timated the conversions then at five hundred and fifty. I baptized about one hun- 
dred. Brother Cumbie about fifty, and most of the others joined the Methodists. 
This work, as you know, prevailed nearly all through the army. But it was par- 
tially interrupted by the fall campaign, when we drove Meade back to Bull Run. 
But the army returned from that campaign to Orange, went into winter-quarters 
and spent the winter there. Part of this winter I was at home on furlough. But 
prayer-meetings, Bible-classes and preaching were successfully kept up through the 
winter. And the revival also, in a less degree, continued. The Young Men's 
Christian Association was largely attended, many went to exhorting, and a great 
many prayed in public, some of whom were greatly gifted. A most interesting 
feature was the large number who would retire after the evening 'roll-call' in 
groups, to pray. Walk out from camp at that hour in any direction and you would 
find them, two, three, half-dozen and a dozen, in a place, all bowed in the dark, 
earnestly praying for themselves and the conversion of their comrades; they nearly 
always took some unconverted ones with them. 

"Through the awful campaign of 1864 there were very limited opportunities to 
preach to this brigade. It was almost constantly under fire or on the march. From 
the Wilderness to Petersburg and around Petersburg, this was the case. Though I 
preached to them as often as I could, yet most of my preaching was to other com- 
mands. I have several times preached when shot and shell were flying over our 
heads, and also several times I had minnie-balls to strike in my congx-egation while 
preaching. We often had prayer-meetings in the trenches, where God did greatly 
bless and comfort our hearts. In the winter- quarters at Petersburg there was much 
faithful preaching, and regular prayer-meetings kept up in this brigade. 

" 1. I believe that the conversions were genuine. There were exceptions of 
course. But I received candidates for baptism just as I do at home, i. e., I assem- 
bled the Baptists of the regiment, heard a relation of the applicants' Christian ex- 
perience, took the vote, etc. All other Baptist ministers, I think, did the same. 
And their statements of the work of grace were clear and satisfactory. 

" 2. So far as my knowledge extended, these converts maintained their profes- 
sions with astonishing faithfulness. Up to the time that I left them, I knew of but 
two or three exceptions. 

*•' 3. The character of tlie brigade was decidedly moral and religious, compared 
with what it was before this good work began. The worship of God became a 
fixed part of the regular duties of the brigade. The religious element was as well 
defined, as well organized and as constant, as in any congregation to whom I have 
preached. Christians were recognized as such, ministers were respected and kindly 
treated and loved. I have never had a congregation at home that seemed to esteem 
. me more, and certainly I never loved a congregation so much. I never was treated 
disrespectfully by a soldier or officer while I Mas in the army — not in one instance. 
They preserved a tender regard for my feelings. None of them ever gambled or 
swore in my immediate presence; if any did swear in my immediate presence in a 
moment of unguarded levity or haste or passion, they always followed it with a be- 
coming apology. Card-]ilaying and the like ceased to be public in this brigade, ex- 
cept among the Irish Catholics, of whom there were three companies, who seemed 
'neither to fear God nor regard man ; ' only they were very good soldiers. 

"4. The officers of my regiment, to a man, were respectful to me and to my po- 
sition. They always attended preaching. There was no exception. Some of them 



612 APPENDIX. 

were good Christians, while all believed that there was no officer in the regiment 
worth more to it than a good chaplain, and no part of their daily duties of so much 
importance as that of religious services. The men who commanded the regiment 
for the most part of the time that I was with them, were: Colonel W. H. Forney, 
Episcopalian; Lieutenant-Colonel Shelley, Methodist inclined; Major Joseph 
Truss, Baptist ; Captain Brewster, of seemingly no fixed denominational preference. 
There never was a time that any one of these noble spirits would not do any and 
every thing that I desired to further the interests of public worship, preaching, 
prayer-meetings, etc. They did not allow anything that they could control to in- 
terfere with our hours of worship. And Colonel Shelley, who commanded most 
of the time (Colonel Forney being a prisoner), often said that the work of the chap- 
lain was essential to the welfare of the regiment, essential to its efficiency, etc. 
The officers of the brigade, nearly all of them, were similar in conduct and disposi- 
tion to those of my own regiment. And so I found the officers throughout the 
army, so far as I had opportunity to test the matter. No one of any rank ever 
treated me other than respectfully and kindly. 

■" 5. There were some very efficient Christians in the brigade. Lieutenant Cum- 
bie, of the Fourteenth Regiment, was a most useful man. He was pious, de- 
voted and active, a very good preacher, a brave soldier and an efficient officer. 
Privates E. B. Hardie, of the Tenth, and Jacob Nelson, of the same regiment, 
were both most excellent young men, faithful and zealous in the service of the Lord, 
and brave soldiers. Both of them were young ministers. These three men were 
Baptists, and are pastors at home now, and successful. There were many others 
who were not preachers, that were in every way faithful and true. 

" 6. So far as I have been able to observe, those who professed religion in tlie 
army and lived to get home, are as faithful, constant and zealous now, as any other 
part of the religious community. I am pastor of several of them, and I know 
many others. Some of them are splendid church-members ; but some have made 
shipwreck of the faith, or never had any faith. Yet I think three-fourths are main- 
taining a good profession, and proving that they were truly converted. 

" 7. I believe it was generally conclusive that religious men made the best sol- 
diers. And I know that officers frequently expressed themselves as believing thus. 
Religious soldiers complained less at army regulations, hard service and short ra- 
tions. They did their duty more generally and more willingly, and I never knew 
one of them to disgrace himself in battle. Many of them died at their posts. 
They straggled less on marches, and committed fewer depredations on the rights of 
citizens. 

"8. The religious status of this brigade remained firm and decided to the sur- 
render of the army. 

" Brother Jones, I am aware that this letter is a very poor and indifferent account 
of the religious standing of my old brigade. Maybe, however, that you can get 
something out of it. I baptized about two hundred while I was in the army, two 
years, but nearly half of them were men of other brigades than my own, and con- 
verted under the ministry of other men. The Lord bless you in your good work, 

" Yours fraternally, 

"J. J. D. Renfroe." 

\^FroT7t Captain M. M, J ones. United States A7'my.'\ 

"City of Utica, New York, January 29, 1867. 
" J. Wm. Jones : 

"Deal' Sir : Being a subscriber to the Richmond Religious Herald, I read your 
card of the 17th instant, and for some reason hardly describable am disposed to 
write you. I have a notion that a religious history of your Army Northern Vir- 
ginia will be a highly interesting and useful book. 



APPENDIX. 513 

" My personal intercourse with the men (a few of them) who composed that 
army impressed my mind with the fact that religious interests were much better 
and more generally attended to than in some armies I have seen. As a prisoner it 
became a necessity for me to march from Second Bull Run battle-field to Rich- 
mond, and, believing that I would gain nothing by keeping vium to those whose 
duty it was, first, to prevent my running away, a matter I was too lame and too 
much used up to attempt if I had known of any accessible place to escape to; and 
second to protect us from malignant darkies, cross women and stay-at-home pa- 
triots on our route via Culpeper, Gordonsville, etc., etc.; and the result was, bar- 
ring the starvation rations of green corn we all (guards and prisoners) had for 
nine days, I had a very pleasant time, being invariably well treated by Confeder- 
ate officers (we were about one hundred officers) and men. The vast difference in 
means, food, clothing, etc., in favor of the North was referred to one day in a familiar 
chat between my personal guard and myself (for I was too lame to keep up on a 
long march). 'Well,' replied the poor, ragged, coatless, shoeless boy, ' I am sure 
you do not have as good prayer-meetings as we have.' I was impressed with the 
reply, and have very often thought of it since. 

"Wishing you all success, I am very truly yours, etc., 

" M. M. Jones." 

\^From a Prisoner at Johnson'' s Island.'] 

" The religious history of the prisoners confined during the war on Johnson's Is- 
land is worthy of record on several accounts, particularly because it furnishes an 
excellent illustration of the potency of individual example and effort, even when not 
under the guidance of an educated mind or extraordinaiy natural endowments, for 
the accomplishment of good. Through the labors of a single individual one of the 
most remarkable moral reformations was effected in this prison that your correspond- 
ent ever witnessed. When this Christian gentleman entered this prison, a few 
days after the great battle of Gettysburg, he found it occupied by about 2,000 prison- 
ers, almost all of whom were officers. These men had been captured at various 
points in the South, and every Southern State was largely represented ; and while 
it would not be just, probably, to say that there was more impiety manifested by these 
men than is usually found in such miscellaneous collections, it is nevertheless true 
that several forms of wickedness, such as profanity, gambling and neglect of the 
Sabbath, had assumed among them very alarming dimensions; and while there was 
the greatest need for religious effort, the obstacles in the way of success were so 
many, and of such a nature, as apparently to render any attempt at a reformation 
almost hopeless. But, though the impediments to be overcome were so many and 
so great, God sent us a man bold enough to undertake, and skilful enough to ac- 
complish, the work. He signalized his presence among us by lifting up at once in 
the view of all the banner of Jesus, At first he had only a few followers. Even 
many professed disciples of Christ stood aloof from him for awhile, as if doubting 
to what this movement would come; but he was not discouraged by the day of 
'small things; ' He persevered in the face of most serious obstacles, exerting his 
influence at first on single individuals and within the narrow limits of his own 
prison apartment ; then, when his followers had increased in numbers, and he had 
gained a larger share of the attention of his comrades in bonds, he gradually ex- 
tended his efforts to other parts of the prison and operated on larger masses. By 
means of Bible-classes and prayer-meetings a healthful reactionary movement was 
inaugurated, which subsequently developed itself into almost every scheme that 
could be devised for the good of the prison. A very large Christian association was 
organized, under whose superintendence several hundred prisoners were instructed 
in the truths of God's word, and nightly prayers observed in almost every room of 
33 



514 APPENDIX. 

the prison ; so that after the lapse of a few months it was no uncommon thing at 
early twilight to hear ascending from every heart of that ' lone isle in Erie's great 
water' sweet songs of praise to God. The visible fruit of this movement was a 
complete reformation in the moral character of the prisoners ; so that in many parts 
of the prison a profane word was scarcely ever heard ; the Sabbath was observed 
with the greatest solemnity, about one hundred made a credible profession of faith 
in Christ, and God's own children were excited to greater diligence in His service. 
Your correspondent is acquainted with several young men now preparing for the 
Gospel ministry, with the prospect of distinguished usefulness, whose attention would 
probably never have been seriously given to that subject but for that movement, and 
doubtless many more, whom he does not know, have enlisted in the same glorious 
service under the influence of that awakening. In addition to the large number 
actually converted, many left the prison under the most serious religious impressions, 
and doubtless many of them have already found, and others will yet find, their M'ay 
into the kingdom. And the chief instrument in this great work was a single indi- 
vidual, who had had few advantages in the way of mental training, and possessed 
no natural endowments superior to those of the mass of God's people." 

I had purposed publishing a roster of the chaplains of the whole army, but find 
(at the last moment, when it is too late to replace it from other sources) that the 
roster which I prepared during the war has been lost or mislaid. I very much re- 
gret this, and will not attempt now to make a roster lest it should be too incomplete 
to be of much value. If, however, I shall be able to recover my material, or to se- 
cure a full roster, it will be published in a future edition of this book. 

I count myself fortunate, however, in being able to publish a large part of the 
minutes of the Chaplains' Association of the Second and Third Corps, which were 
preserved by the efficient secretary, Chaplain L. C. Vass, of the Twenty-seventh 
Virginia Regiment, and have been kindly placed at my disposal. I very much 
regret that I have not been able to secure the minutes of the Chaplains' Associa- 
tion of the First Corps, which were of deep interest and value, as our brethren in 
that grand old command were very active and efficient, and were greatly blessed in 
their work. 

I give these minutes in the form in which they were originally written, and am 
sure that they will be greatly prized by those who were privileged to participate in 
those precious seasons of Christian counsel and fellowship, and by all who feel an 
interest in the details of our grand work. 

" Minutes of Chaplains' Association of Second and Third Corps, Army 
OF Northern Virginia. 

"First Session. 

" Round Oak Church, Virginia, March i6, 1863. 

"According to a previous notice to the chaplains of the Second Army Corps, 
Army of Northern Virginia, a number of them met at this point this morning. The 
meeting was called to order by Rev. B. T. Lacy. Rev. A. C. Hopkins was elected 
Chairman, and Rev. L. C. Vass, Secretary. The meeting was then organized with 
singing, reading the Scriptures and with prayer. The following were present : 

" Georgia. — James O. A. Sparks, Fourth Georgia; Alexander M. Thigpen, Sixth 
Georgia; A. M. Marshall, Twelfth Georgia; J. J. Hyman, Forty-ninth Georgia, 

"North Carolina. — F. M. Kennedy, Twenty-eighth North Carolina; W. R. 
Gualtney, First North Carolina; W. C. Power, Fourteenth North Carolina; A. D. 
Betts, Thirtieth North Carolina. 

"South Carolina. — George T. T. Williams, First South Carolina. 

" Virginia.— ¥ , C. Tebbs, Fourth Virginia; E. P. Walton, Fifth Virginia; L. C. 



APPENDIX. 515 

Vass, Twenty-Seventh Virginia; J. M. Grandin, Thirty-third Virginia; A. C. Hop- 
kins, Second Virginia; J. William Jones, Thirteenth Vnginia ; J. P. Garland, Forty- 
ninth Virginia; Paul C. Morton, Twenty-third Virginia; James Nelson, Forty-fourth 
Virginia; Harvey Gilmore, Twenty-tirst Virginia; B, T. Lacy, acting missionary in 
corps, Virginia. 

" Major Isaac Hardman, Captain O. T. Evans and Rev. T. W. Harris were in- 
vited to sit as corresponding members. 

" Several important subjects with regard to the chaplain's work were discussed 
familiarly by those present. Among these was the administration of the Lord's 
Supper. Its importance as regards Christian growth in grace, and the conversion 
of sinners, was urged ; and touching and profitable remarks on this subject were 
made by several brethren. All agreed to the necessity, duty and profit of frequent 
communion seasons in our army. 

"Also, brethren considered the nature of the sweeping charges brought against 
chaplains and chaplaincies generally, in consequence of the deficiencies and delin- 
quencies of some who hold that office. It was agreed that the odium brought upon 
the office by ay^zty must ho.- lived doxvn by the rest. 

"Also, it was urged upon every chaplain that, in view of the entire destitution of 
many regiments of religious worship, he should seek to do some missionary work 
around his own regiment or brigade. 

"Resolved, That wherever regiments are without chaplains we will, as far as 
practicable, urge the importance of having a chaplain, and will afford every facility 
in our power when desired to have such regiments suitably supplied. 

"Resolved, That a committee be appointed by the chair to draw up an address, 
urging the imperative duty of humility and penitence on the part of the Church at 
home under the chastening rod of God, and setting forth also the spiritual wants of 
our army, and the encouragements and discouragements to chaplains' labors 
therein. 

" The chair appointed on this committee : Rev. James Nelson from Trimble's 
Division, Rev. J. William Jones from Early's Division, Rev. W. C. Power from 
D. H. Hill's Division, Rev. F. M. Kennedy from A. P. Hill's Division, and Rev. 
B. T. Lacy. 

"Resolved, That this body, after adjournment, meet here on Tuesday, 24th inst,, 
at 1 1 A. M. 

"Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to designate the time and 
place of meeting in case we cannot assemble as above determined. 

" Rev. J. P. Garland and Rev. J. William Jones, of Fourth Brigade, Early's Di- 
vision, and Rev. B. T. Lacy, were appointed on this committee. 

"After singing and prayer, the meeting then adjourned. 

"Second Session. 

" Round Oak Church, Tuesday, March 24, 1863. 

"According to previous adjournment, the chaplains met this morning. 

" Rev. A. D. Betts, Thirtieth North Carolina Infantry, was chosen Chairman, 
and Rev. L. C. Vass, Twenty-seventh Virginia Infantry, was continued as Perma- 
nent Clerk. 

" Rev. George E. Booker, chaplain of the Forty-eighth Virginia Infantry, Rev. 
A. W. Moore, Fourteenth Georgia, and Rev. A. L. Stough, Thirty-seventh North 
Carolina Infantry, appeared and gave in their names. 

"An invitation was extended to the Christian brethren present to participate in 
our deliberations. 

" The minutes were read and approved. 

" The committee to draw up an address to the Churches reported. The address 
was read, and after some slight changes approved. 



516 APPENDIX. 

*^ Resolved, That the committee that prepared the address, Math Rev. George T. T. 
Williams added, be requested to publish the address in the religious organs of the 
several Churches. 

^'■Resolved, That a committee of two from each division, with Brother Lacy as 
chairman, be appointed as a committee of correspondence to facilitate the introduc- 
tion of chaplains into the regiments of our corps. 

" The following committee was appointed for this purpose : 

"A. P. Hill's Division — F. M. Kennedy and George T. T. Williams. 

" Trimble's Division — A. C. Hopkins and James Nelson. 

" D. H. Hill's Division— A. M, Marshall and A, D. Betts. 

" Early's Division — John McGill and J. William Jones. 

" B. T. Lacy as chairman. 

" Here the body spent some time in singing and prayer, in thanking God for His 
goodness to us, and beseeching His blessings on our future labors. 

" The proper observance of the day of fasting, humiliation and prayer appointed 
by President Davis was then discussed. Plans of diffusing our labors were sug- 
gested and urged; also, prayer for a wide and deep revival of pure and undefiled 
religion in our army. 

" Then followed a lengthy and interesting conversation about the chaplain's pri- 
vate work in his regiment, by conversation, etc. The great importance of a regular, 
constant and tender pastoral oversight over the flock under his charge was shown 
by the statement and experience of many, and was acknowledged by all, and there 
were resolves made for greater faithfulness in future. 

" Here the subject of some further provision for the chaplain's efficiency was dis- 
cussed, e. g., his need of a tent for study, prayer-meetings, private conversations 
with inquirers, etc., and of forage for a horse. No resolutions were passed. 

" Brother Betts was appointed to preach at the opening of the next meeting. 

" The body then adjourned with prayer, to meet at this place on next Tuesday at 
II A. M. 

" Third Session. 

" No regular meeting on last Tuesday because of weather. 

" Round Oak Church, April 7, 1863. 

"According to previous appointment. Brother A. D. Betts, of the Thirtieth North 
Carolina Infantry, preached the opening sermon from Acts viii. 39, 'And he went on 
his way rejoicing.' 

" The body was called to order, and Brother James Nelson, of the Forty-fourth 
Virginia Infantry, was elected chairman. 

" The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. 

" In addition to former chaplains present, there appeared J. M. Meredith, of the 
Forty-seventh Virginia Infantry, J. M. Anderson, of the Fortieth Virginia, John 
McGill, of the Fifty-second Virginia Infantry, John Paris, of the Fifty-fourth North 
Carolina Infantry, S. H, Smith, of the Sixtieth Georgia Infantry, William E, Cam- 
eron, of the Twenty-sixth Alabama, T. H. Howell, Thirteenth Alabama, and Dr. 
William M. Strickler, acting chaplain of the Fifth Louisiana. 

" Christian brethren present were invited to take part in our discussions. 

" Conversation on the progress of religion in the army was made the order of the 
day. Interesting narratives of God's wondrous work in converting souls were given 
by several of the brethren. Many souls had been brought to repose in Jesus, and 
much interest was still prevailing. 

"The meeting engaged then in prayer, and, in returning thanks to God for His 
mercies to us and His presence with us. 

" The cause of the dear, suffering sick among the soldiers was then taken up. 



APPENDIX. 517 

An interesting letter from Dr. Harvey Black to Dr. McGuire, surgeon in charge of 
the Corps Hospital, was read, in which he earnestly solicited the appointment of a 
chaplain for his hospital. The following resolution was adopted with reference to 
this letter: 

" Whereas, The labors of a minister in the receiving hospital of Lieutenant- 
General Jackson's Corps is greatly desired by the sick soldiers ; and whereas, a grati- 
fying appeal for such services has been made by Dr. H. Black, the surgeon in charge 
of said hospital ; therefore, 

^'Resolved, That we deeply appreciate the importance of such an appointment, and 
will gladly aid in procuring the services of an efiFicient chaplain ; and that we will 
endeavor, in the meanwhile, to supply the deficiency by an apportionment of the 
labors among ourselves. 

" Brothers Meredith, Grandin and Vass volunteered their services to labor a por- 
tion of the next three weeks in the hospital. 

" Brother L. C. Vass, of the Twenty-seventh Virginia Infantry, was temporarily 
substituted in place of Brother Hopkins (now sick) on the committee for obtaining 
chaplains for our army. 

"After some further conversation and devotional exercises, the meeting adjourned, 
with the understanding that they would convene again on April 14, 1863, at this 
place, when Brother Nelson would preach the opening sermon. 

^^Foiirth Session. 

" Round Oak Church, April 14, 1863. 

" The chaplains met, according to adjournment, at this place. Brother James 
Nelson, of the Forty-fourth Virginia Infantry, the last chairman, opened the meet- 
ing with a sermon from Romans i. 16, 'For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of 
Christ,' etc. 

" Brother B. T. Lacy, missionary chaplain in the corps, was elected chairman. 

" The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. 

" Rev. A. R. Benick, of the Thirty-fourth North Carolina Infantry, Pender's 
Brigade, and Rev. E. B. Barrett, of the Forty-fifth Georgia, appeared and gave in 
their names. 

" The progress of religion in our army since our last meeting was the first subject 
taken up. 

" Brother Nelson, of the Forty- fourth Virginia, reported ten conversions in his 
regiment, among whom was one of its most prominent officers. A number were 
still concerned deeply. General Trimble had excused the men from drill to attend 
preaching. 

" Brother Gilmore, of the Twenty-first Virginia, reported about fifteen penitents 
and one convert. Congregation last night large and attentive. 

" Brother L. C. Vass, of the Twenty-seventh, reported the work of grace still 
progressing in the Stonewall Brigade. He held an interesting communion on last 
Sabbath, admitted a number to the Lord's Supper, and baptized several. 

" In Brother Smith's (Sixtieth Georgia) Regiment there had been many conver- 
sions since the last meeting. 

" Brother Strickler, of the Fifth Louisiana, preached to the Ninth Louisiana on 
Sabbath. They turned out almost to a man. 

" Brother Howell, of the Thirteenth Alabama, had no interest till the past week 
in his regiment. Church-members were revived. There were many mourners, and 
a few conversions. No other chaplain in the five regiments in his brigade (Archer's). 
^ "Brother Cameron, of the Twenty-sixth Alabama, reported great interest since 
the last meeting; several conversions and additions to his Church; men enjoying 
religion ; he is the only chaplain in Rodes's Brigade. 



V 



518 ' APPENDIX. 

" Brother Meredith, of the Forty-Seventh Virginia, reported on his labors at Dr. 
Black's Corps Hospital at Guinea's. He spent a profitable time there. Narrated 
several incidents to show the need of a permanent chaplain there. A Universalist 
was found who was brought to abandon his false belief (instilled into his mind by 
an uncle) through reading the Gospel of John, and being pointed to Christ's work. 
From twenty to thirty are daily passing through the hospital, and from twenty to 
forty constantly there. 

"A Macedonian cry was raised by Captain , from the Third Alabama Regi- 
ment, for preaching. Their place of worship was filled to overflowing, and their 
Christian Association on Sunday evening was prospering. 

"Brigadier-General William N. Pendleton (Rev. Dr. Pendleton, of Lexington, 
Virginia) then addressed the body. He said he had come out of his way to meet 
the chaplains and show his interest in their labors. The ministry was at all times 
the most blessed of works. How much more now, and here in the army where 
dangers thicken. Life is uncertain, and therefore there is more solemnity, and a 
congregation can be gathered at any time. 

'< He urged upon the chaplains the power of a holy life, and duty and necessity 
of cultivation of individual piety — that hidden life of God in the soul. Their relig- 
ion should not be too much in the crowd ; too much a matter of feeling, of sympathy ; 
but a matter of experience, of heart. They should improve all opportunities of 
speaking to soldiers, in knots, by tract. Gospel and prayer. 

" They had much to encourage them in prayers for them over the land every day, 
at I P. M., in God's co-operating Spirit and providence, and in the way the religious 
services of himself and others have been received. He referred to the labors of a 
captain under him in holding daily prayer with his company, and nearly all were 
converted. 

" He argued that chaplains were a great power in this struggle, and had every 
motive to stimulate them ; for the better Christian a man is, the better soldier he is. 
' May the Lord be with you ! ' 

" Rev. Dr. Pendleton was then requested to preach to us, at such time and place 
as he may name, upon the great work in which we are engaged, our duties and our 
responsibilities. 

" He accepted the invitation, and said he would make known through the chair- 
man the time and place. 

" Here the meeting engaged in prayer. 

" The meeting then considered the difficulties surrounding chaplains on an active 
campaign. Was there not too little preaching then? 

" Brother J. William Jones, of the Thirteenth Virginia, who introduced the subject, 
thought there was. He had found soldiers always ready and anxious to hear the 
Gospel. At Cross' Keys a minister was stopped at '■'■thirdly'''' by the colonel form- 
ing the line of battle. At Richmond he assembled his own cut-up regiment (Thir- 
teenth Virginia) under the guns of the enemy. Every man and officer was present. 
A young man remarked to him : ' This is a lesson to me which I shall never forget.' 
So at Lee's Springs (Fauquier county, Virginia), in crossing the Rappahannock, a 
shell fell in the midst of the congregation, but fortunately did not explode. They 
assembled again, and he thanked God for it. Good was accomplished. 

" General Pendleton's experience was similar. The largest congregation he ever 
siw was one Sunday after the army had been drawn up in line of battle all day 
Saturday. All were disposed to hear. Ministers can do more than they suppose 
if they have the heart and will. In his two years' service there was not a Sabbath 
when, if possible, he did not preach once, and often twice. 

" Brother Thigpen, of the Sixth Georgia, after consultation with his superior 
officer, held a jirayer-meeting, which was a most precious season, the night after the 
fight at Malvern Hill. Men never were so tired, or marched so far, as to be un- 



APPENDIX. 519 

willing to have prayer. He commenced his prayer-meetings under these peculiar 
circumstances, and had continued with good results, 

" Brother Lacy, the chairman, said, as God had adapted the Gospel to men in all 
conditions, so he has rendered its preaching practicable under all circumstances. 
Unquestionably, if the commissariat neglected its duties because of some derange- 
ments in its usual routine, the army would starve, although victorious. . Yet even 
with its deranged system, the army must have bread in the trenches ; if not the full 
supply, yet how invaluable is the dry crust or hard biscuit ! Brethren, we are ap- 
pointed to carry the spiritual bread of life to the men. We draw from a never- 
failing supply. There is always enough, thank God. If we have some difficulty in 
getting it to the men in need, let us strive. Difficulties prove their great necessities. 
In the fight many of these men must fall. One sermon more, brethren, for the love 
of souls, for the glory of God. Let us devise means to get this bread to them. 

" Faithful chaplains promote the efficiency of the army. Let every chaplain set 
an example, like Brother Thigpen, of obedience to military orders. Pray against 
blind z^z.\. But we must have true zeal. If any brother feels he is about as well 
here as elsewhere, we would say to him, * You had better go away.' Don't interfere 
with officers; consult them, and try to work in the Gospel. Don't desert the men 
because they are in the trenches. Go, speak a word to them, if you only say, ' I 
know you were ready to fight for your country ; but were you ready to meet your 
God ? ' The Gospel hurts no man at any time under any circumstances. Earnest 
prayer by the camp-fire makes men rest better, and march better. 

" Let brevity mark these services. Let the words be few and well chosen. This 
is the principle : What are the few sentences that will save his soul if I never speak 
again? A great, many useless appendages to sermons will be thus cut off, and we 
will leave the army better preachers than when we entered it. Long sermons 
weary and injure your usefulness. Be short and sharp; brief, but brimful of the 
Gospel. 

" Brother Strickler, of Fifth Louisiana, thought the condition of the sick a sub- 
ject of such importance as to demand immediate consideration: the present plan 
of supplying the hospital with temporary chaplains was inefficient. He thought 
there should be a corps of chaplains to attend to the field infirmaries. 

"A committee was appointed, consisting of Dr. Strickler, J. P. Garland, Forty- 
ninth Virginia and B. T. Lacy, to take some action touching this hospital business, 
and report. 

" It was resolved that a committee of three be appointed to report on the subject 
of a badge for the adoption of the chaplains of our corps. J. Wm. Jones, Thir- 
teenth Virginia, F. M. Kennedy, Twenty-eighth North Carolina, and James Nelson, 
Forty-fourth Virginia, form this committee. 

"After some appropriate remarks by Brother W. C. Power, of Fourteenth North 
Carolina, the following resolution was unanimously adopted, all the chaplains stand- 
ing : 

'■^Resolved, That we, the chaplains of the Second Army Corps, pledge ourselves 
to offer prayer — at sunset — every day, for each other and the success of our labors. 

"Adjourned with devotional exercises to meet at 1 1 A. M. next Tuesday, and 
open with sermon by chairman as usual. 

" L. C. Vass, Secretary. 
"Fifth Session. 

"Round Oak Church, April 20, 1863. 
" The body met according to adjournment. Brother B. T. Lacy preached the 
opening sermon from i Kings xx. 40, * And as thy servant was busy here and 
there, he was gone.' He showed, through the history of this unfaithful soldier, the 
temptation to which chaplains are exposed; and urged them to faithful discharge 
of their duties by various arguments. 



520 APPENDIX. 

" Brother F. M. Kennedy, of Twenty-eighth North Carolina, was selected as 
chairman. Abstract of the minutes of last meeting was read and approved. 

" Brother J. N. Bouchelle, of Thirteenth South Carolina Infantry, and Brother Geo. 
Slaughter, Fifty-eighth Virginia Infantry, appeared and gave their names to the clerk. 

" Conversation on the state of religion, was, as usual, our first business. 

" Brother Kennedy reported that since last week there had been some twenty or 
thirty penitents in his regiment (Twenty- eighth Uorth Carolina), and several had 
expressed a desire to join the Church. He has prospect of a gracious work. 
There was a great improvement in the observance of the Sabbath. He had nearly 
three hundred members of the Church in his regiment of eight hundred men. 

" Brother Nelson, Forty-fourth Virginia, reported the work of grace still in prog- 
ress : fifteen in his regiment had professed saving faith. He mentioned several in- 
cidents showing the change for the better in his regiment, and the power of tracts. 

" Brother Power said that, his regiment being absent, he had been preaching for 
Brother Betts in Thirtieth North Carolina, where a large number were concerned, 
among them a prominent officer (the colonel), a man of large influence at home, 
but heretofore unconcerned. 

" Brother Vass, of Twenty-seventh Virginia, stated that God was still signally 
present in the Stonewall (Paxton's) Brigade. Congregations large and many seek- 
ing after Jesus. He explained the mode adopted for receiving converts into the 
Church, viz. : by careful examination, public profession and then sending a certifi- 
cate home to whatever Church the party wished to join. 

" Brother B. T. Lacy, more encouraged than ever, preached on Sabbath morn- 
ing to a large and important congregation assembled at the corps' head-quarters. 
Many generals and their staffs were present. There seemed to be deep feeling with 
some. 

" On Sabbath afternoon and on Saturday preached to large and interested assem- 
blies. He also felt encouraged about the little prayer-meeting held at head-quar- 
ters, and stated one or two incidents to show his ground of encouragement. 

" Brother Grandin, of Thirty-third, had administered, with Brother Booker's aid 
(Forty-eighth Virginia), the communion on Sabbath to his regiment. He thought 
there must have been over one hundred communicants. He baptized four. His 
heart was cheered and he greatly built up. 

" Brother Marshall, of Twelfth Georgia Infantry, stated that in his regiment, and 
in the Forty-fourth Georgia, a very interesting state exists. He holds his services 
nightly, and at the last meeting there were some twenty-five to thirty inquirers. 

"Brother Cameron reported the good work still going on in his (Twenty- sixth 
Alabama) regiment. Some thirty or forty interested. 

" Brother McGill, of Fifty-second Virginia, and Benick, of Thirty-fourth North 
Carolina, were glad to state that though no marked revolution was going on in their 
regiments, yet there was a considerable external improvement. 

" Brother J. W. Jones, Thirteenth Virginia, had a very pleasant change in his 
regiment. Several awakened. One most wicked man, deeply concerned. Card- 
playing and profanity were checked. 

" He practised an interchange with brother-chaplains in receiving into the Church. 

" Several regiments manifested their desire very signally to procure chaplains. 

" There were some reports made as to progress in procuring chaplains; corre- 
spondence with some, etc. ; but nothing of a permanent character to need record. 

"The committee on M:)adge for chaplains ' was continued, with instructions to 
report at next meeting what sort of badge the chaplains should wear, if any, and 
its cost. 

" The question, ' Where ought chaplains to be in battle ? ' was somewhat agitated, 
but left for the next meeting. 

" Brother J. N. Bouchelle, of Thirteenth South Carolina, agreed to go to the hos- 
pital this week, and Brother Geo. Slaughter, Fifty-eighth Virginia, next week. 



APPENDIX. 521 

"The meeting then adjourned with the benediction, to meet on next Saturday, 
25th inst., in this church, to hear Rev. Wm. N. Pendleton, D. D., on the chaplaincy. 

" L. C. Vass, Clerk. 
^^Sixt/i Session. 

" Round Oak Church, April 25, 1863. 

"According to adjournment the chaplains met to-day to hear Rev. Wm. N. Pen- 
dleton on the chaplaincy. He did not appear, and Brother F. M. Kennedy, the 
last chairman, preached from Rom. xiv. 7, ' For none of us liveth to himself.' He 
presented the law of mutual dependence, which pervades all nature, and is espe- 
cially seen among intelligent, social beings ; and ghowed how no man could escape 
influencing others ; exhibited to the Christian the manner in which he should live 
for good to those around him ; showed to the impenitent how malign was his ex- 
ample, and urged him to repent and do the works of the Gospel. 

" Brother Jno. McGill, of Fifty-second Virginia, was then elected chairman. 

" Brother J. M. Anderson, of Twelfth South Carolina, and Brother Robert Har- 
dee, of Second Louisiana, Nichol's Brigade, enrolled their names. 

"Brother J. F. Watson, missionary chaplain, gave his name, and Brother Geo. 
Leyburn, agent of Petersburg Evangelical Tract Society, was invited to participate 
in our meetings. 

" Brother Gilmore suggested that some provision be rnade to keep the clerk sup- 
plied with paper for his duties, minutes, letters,, etc. 

" The state of religious interest in our army was then considered. 

" Brother Anderson, of Fortieth Virginia, had ninety men and officers who were 
professors of religion in his regiment. He impressed on these the duty of prayer. 
The first case of conviction was a wild, thoughtless young man, who came forward 
and audibly asked for prayer for himself. Others had presented themselves since. 
He was much encouraged. Attendance good, and Christians praying. 

" Brother H. Gilmore, of Twenty-first Virginia, said that nine more had pro- 
fessed conversion in his regiment, many of whom were the most profane in it. 
Others were anxiously inquiring the way of life. 

"Brother F. M. Kennedy stated that the interest in Twenty-eighth North Caro- 
lina was undiminished. His meetings not interrupted by bad weather. 

" Brother Power, of Fourteenth North Carolina, reported a meeting of interest 
in progress in his regiment; many officers and others were concerned. His lieu- 
tenant-colonel, heretofore opposed to chaplains, so far as to think their labors of no 
consequence, has given liimself to Christ, and was working for God. Others, dis- 
posed to hide their Church relationship, have come forward and given their names. 

" Brother Nelson, of Forty-fourth Virginia, reported about thirty conversions in 
all in his regiment. One backslider reclaimed in his regiment since our last meet- 
ing. 

" Brother Kennedy said that Brother Stough, of Thirty-seventh North Carolina, 
had had about forty conversions in his regiment ; and enrolled and baptized a num- 
ber to-day. 

" Brother J. P. Garland said he had a great report to make. One poor trembling 
soul had been converted to God, and there was joy in heaven. Six or seven were 
inquiring the way to Jesus. 

" Brother J. M. Anderson, Twelfth South Carolina, had been absent some months 
sick, and just returned. He saw^ that God was going to bless his regiment before 
he left. Since he returned, a few days ago, he had preached, and many flocked to 
preaching. There was a great change in this respect. 

"A member of Thirteenth Alabama (its chaplain being away. Brother Howell) 
stated that they had nightly prayer-meetings, and earnestly besought some minister 
to come and preach to them. He a,sked their prayers, 



522 APPENDIX. 

" Brother Smith, of Sixtieth Georgia, remarked that the work goes bravely on in 
his brigade. Some fifty came forward as penitents on Saturday previous. He had 
obtained some four or five hundred Testaments for his brigade. On Sunday, thirty 
odd names vs^ere put in hat on slips of paper, asking for prayers. Several who had 
fallen back into the world had come out and taken their former positions. 

"Brother Marshall had much interest in his regiment. Many inquirers. His 
colonel never lets drills interfere with preaching. His prayer-meeting possessed 
great interest. 

" Brother Jones, of Thirteenth Virginia, had some encouraging circumstances in 
his regiment. One had decided for Christ, and another was seeking an interest in 
Him. 

" Brother Hardee, of Second Louisiana, mentioned the case of a man condemned 
to be shot in his regiment, and asked prayers for him. 

"We then united in prayer to God; were led by Brother Anderson, of Twelfth 
South Carolina. 

" On Brother Garland's proposition we agreed to pray every afternoon for the 
sentenced man in Second Louisiana, at the hour of prayer for chaplains, until next 
Friday morning. 

" The subject of the proper position of chaplains in battle was then taken up. 
Much conversation was had on this topic. Many chaplains stated what had been 
their habits. Some had gone regularly into battle with a musket. The opinion of 
many prominent officers was stated ; and the general conclusion was as follows : 
No absolute rule can be laid down, A chaplain shall be wherever duty calls him, 
irrespective of danger. But ordinarily it is thought wrong for him to take a mus- 
ket. Some shall be in charge of the ambulances, some at the field infirmaries and 
some at the point where the litter-bearers meet the ambulances, and where many 
die. The chaplain should ascertain the opinion of his regiment on this subject. 

" Brother Geo, Leyburn gave us some information about the Petersburg Evan- 
gelical Tract Society, He expressed his gratification with this meeting. 

" The committee on the badge was continued, that they might ascertain the cost 
of several devices, 

*' Brother Lacy was requested to communicate to General Pendleton our desire 
to hear him at our next meeting. 

"Adjourned with singing and benediction till next Tuesday week. May 5, 1863, 

" L. C. Vass, Secretary. 
" Seventh Session. 

[The session appointed for May 5 was prevented by the battles of " Second 
Fredericksburg " and Chancellorsville.] 

"Round Oak Church, Tuesday, May 12. 

"At 12 o'clock General Pendleton preached on the duties and responsibilities of 
the chaplain's work from the text : ' Study to show thyself approved of God, a 
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.' 
2 Timothy ii. 15. He spoke earnestly of the i?nportance of our work, and cau- 
tioned against a natural tendency to indolence and sloth. 

" He urged as essential qualifications for the work, 'personal piety,'' ' an appre- 
ciation of the value of the soul,'' and ' a right impression of the dignity and value 
of our office^ and gave practical directions for the attainment of these qualifications. 

" He then noticed the ' difficulties' and ' encouragements' we meet in the chap- 
laincy, and in conclusion urged upon chaplains to be ' stirred up to their great 
work ' and especially seek to improve the season of repose which we are now hav- 
ing. 

"After a short intermission the chaplains were called to order. On motion, Brother 



APPENDIX. 523 

• 

Jno. McGill, Fiity-second Virginia, was continued moderator, and, Brother Vass 
being absent, J. Wm. Jones, Thii^teenth Virginia, was requested to act as secretary. 

" Brother B. T. Lacy made statements with reference to the death of General 
Jackson, relating many touching incidents connected with his last moments, and 
paid a feeling tribute to his memory. General Pendleton also made statements il- 
lustrative of the humble, earnest piety of the fallen hero. Upon suggestion of the 
moderator, the meeting then united in prayer that this sad affliction might be sanc- 
tified to the good of the army and the country. There was a shadow upon our 
hearts, for each chaplain felt that he had lost his best friend. On motion, a com- 
mittee, consisting of Brother B. T. Lacy, Brother A. M. Marshall, Twelfth Georgia, 
and Brother Garland, Forty-ninth Virginia, were appointed to draw up resolutions 
expressive of the feeling of the chaplains of the corps on this sad affliction. 

" The following ministerial brethren were invited to participate in our delibera- 
tions : Miller, Harris, of Carrington's Battery, Lieutenant Bagby and Sergeant 
Bailey, Powhatan Artillery, Garrison and Robertson, chaplains in General Long- 
street's Corps. 

" Reports were made on progress in securing chaplains for the vacant regiments. 
Brother Lacy reported that gratifying arrangements had been made, by which sev- 
eral able ministers would labor for a time as army missionaries. Brother J. Wm. 
Jcmes reported that he had secured appointments for three brethren, and had a num- 
ber of other applications which he hoped soon to dispose of. 

" The committee on badges reported progress and asked to be continued — 
granted. Adjourned with^religious exercises to meet agaio next Tuesday, at the 
same place, if the army is in its presentposition. 

* "J. Wm. Jones, Secretary /r<? tem. 

^^ Eighth Session. 

" Round Oak Church, May 19, 1863. 

" The chaplains met according to adjournment, and. Brother McGill being sick 
and absent. Brother J. Wm. Jones preached from Acts x. 38, 'Who went about 
doing good ? ' He held up Christ as our great example in His perfect charac- 
ter; in His tender sympathies; in His spiritual labors; in His earnestness and con- 
stancy in labors, and in His sacrifices. He urged hearers to follow Him in their 
lives. 

"After a short recess, ]^rother W. C. Power, of Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
of Fourteenth South Carolina, was chosen chairman. The minutes having been 
accidentally left, a verbal statement was made by the secretary pro tem. 

" Rev. Jas. M. Sprunt, of Twentieth North Carolina, Iverson's Brigade, Rev. W. 
B. Carson, Fourteenth South Carolina, McGowan's Brigade, and Rev. Walker 
Gilmer, of Nelson's Battalion of Artillery, Pendleton's Corps, were present, and 
their names were recorded as chaplains in this corps. Rev. Wm. J. Hoge, D. D., 
having come to this corps to labor for awhile, was enrolled among the chaplains. 

" Rev. Roy Temple, a member of Carter's Battalion of Artillery, was invited 
to participate in our deliberations, 

" We then heard reports about the progress of religion since our last meeting. 
Brother Lacy had been preaching to increasing congregations at the old head- 
quarters. 

" Brother Kennedy, of Twenty-eighth North Carolina, had held very interesting 
services with his regiment. Deep solemnity marked them. On last Sabbath ten 
expressed their desire to join the Church, and forty or fifty were penitents. There 
was no falling off of interest. He asked the prayers of the meeting. 

" Brother Grandin, of Thirty-third Virginia, stated that he had talked with many 
about their souls' interests, and had examined two for church-membership, and that 



524 ^ APPENDIX. 

Brother Vass, of Twenty-seventh Virginia, had on last Sabbath received four into 
the Church, of whom one was baptized. 

" Brother Carson, of Fourteenth South Carolina, had observed a gradual and 
growing interest for weeks in his regiment, though there had been no revival. He 
believed that numbers were feeling deeply. 

"Brother J. Wm. Jones, of Thirteenth Virginia, had found no diminution of 
religious interest in his regiment since our active operations. His meetings were 
largely attended, deep impressions made, and men were deciding for Christ. 

" Brother Smith, of Sixtieth Georgia, had now resumed his regular services, 
which had been somewhat interrupted by our marching. Nine persons had pro- 
fessed to have found pardon for their sins. Nearly the entire congregation will 
come forward and kneel down for special prayer. 

"Brother Hyman's regiment (Forty-ninth Georgia) was blessed with a copious 
outpouring of God's Spirit. He had baptized eight since the battle, and six are 
hopefully converted, and expect to profess publicly their faith. About one hun- 
dred are anxious about their souls. 

" Brother Anderson, of Fortieth Virginia, had several conversions (six) in his 
regiment. The excitement of battle had exercised a wholesome influence on the 
men. He needed help, and begged for some. 

" Brother Power, of Fourteenth South Carolina, had an interesting state of re- 
ligion in his regiment when the army moved, and would have regretted the change, 
had he not remembered that the work was of God. Some twenty-five or thirty had 
professed conversion. God bore them sweetly onward. 

" Brother Betts, of Thirtieth North Carolina, was absent from his regiment dur- 
ing the fight, but found that God had guraed him, and he returned in time to ren- 
der services where they were needed, in the hospital to the wounded. In his regi- 
ment great interest had been aroused; several had been baptized and others had 
made known their feelings. 

" Brother Wm. J. Hoge said he had just come ; but he had found an oppor- 
tunity on tlie cars, as they were detained, to preach Christ. 

" His Presbytery had ordered him to report to General Jackson. Now he had 
gone ; but God had opened a way to him in His providence, and he was laboring in 
General Rodes's Division. 

"Brother Marshall, of Tw^elfth Georgia, had been with his men and held ser- 
vices during the march. The men were tender. 

" Brother Slaughter, of Fifty-eighth Virginia, felt encouraged. A good work 
was beginning in his regiment. He felt his w^eakness, and begged earnestly for the 
prayers of the meeting. 

" Brother Sprunt expressed his joy at hearing these statements, and hoped to be 
able to bring similar from his regiment. Now, he too, asked our prayers. 

" Brother Wm. J. Hoge then engaged with the brethren in prayer. 

•* By request, Brother B. T. Lacy gave a statement of the closing scenes of Gen- 
eral Jackson's life, which was deeply interesting to all, though it w^aked anew the 
troubled fountains of grief. 

" The following resolutions [these resolutions have Ijeen unfortunately lost] were 
offered with reference to General Jackson's death, and after a few remarks were 
adopted unanimously by the members, standing. Thereupon the body adjourned, 
with their usual exercises, to meet at the same place on this day week. 

" L. C. Vass, Secretary." 

It is deeply regretted that from this point on there are serious breaks in the 
minutes of meetings that were held, as many meetings were prevented by active 
operations. 



APPENDIX. 525 

"Orange Court House, August 25, 1863. 

" The chaplains of the Second and Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, met, 
according to adjournment, at 10 A. M., in the Baptist church. The former Moder- 
ator introduced Rev. J. H. Bocock, D. D., to the meeting, who preached the open- 
ing sermon from Song of Solomon iii. 3, ' Saw ye him whom my soul loveth ? ' 
The speaker tenderly urged that all Christians, particularly Christ's ministers in the 
army, should see Christ : (i) In God's word ; (2) In His mercies; (3) In the fur- 
nace ; (4) On the throne, as King, of kings and Lord of lords. Devotional ser- 
vices being over, the meeting was organized by electing Rev. J. M. Anderson, For- 
tieth Virginia, Moderator. Brother Vass, the Permanent Clerk, being absent, Rev. 
A. C. Hopkins, Second Virginia, was requested to act as Temporary Clerk, 

"A free conversation on the subject of religion in the army being engaged in, 
revealed a general and deep interest in nearly every part of both corps, and also that 
the last fast-day had been universally and solemnly observed. 

" Brother Lacy had preached, Friday morning, at General Ewell's head-quarters, 
and in the afternoon, in Mahone's Brigade, to large and' peculiarly attentive congre- 
gations. He thought God's work in the army still progressing. 

" Brother Jones reported that in Smith's Brigade religious interest was increasing. 
Since last meeting, between forty and fifty had been hopefully converted. His daily 
meetings were large, and he had frequently enjoyed the ministrations of Dr. Broadus. 

"In Hayes's Brigade, particularly in the Ninth Louisiana Regiment, he reported 
that congregations were large and many interested about the salvation of their souls. 
Christians seemed alive, and had interested themselves to obtain a chaplain. 

" Brother Talley stated that in Rodes's Brigade there was a gracious state of things. 
He had been laboring as chaplain only about two weeks, and had been most warmly 
received by officers and men. Fast-day had been unusually interesting, having 
been observed by sunrise prayer-meeting and three other public services during the 
day. Christians had formed an association in the brigade, which promised well. 

" In Mahone's Brigade some thirty or forty conversions had occurred, and sev- 
enty-five or eighty were eagerly inquiring what they must^io to be saved. 

" Brother Booker stated that in Jones's Brigade fast-day had been well observed 
in four services. Much secret interest was discovered among the command. 

" In Wilcox's Brigade the interest continued unabated. There had been seventy- 
five conversions since we came into camp, near Orange Court House. Brothers 
Power, Lewis, and others, had been helping the chaplains. Preaching had been 
suspended and substituted by prayer-meetings, which were thought advisable. Fast- 
day had been strictly observed by all. 

" In Posey's Brigade the work of grace continued, and a great revival was pro- 
gressing. There had been some fifty or sixty accessions to the Church of Christ, 
and from forty to fifty persons nightly presented themselves for the prayers of God's 
people. Fast-day had been observed by everybody in the command. 

" Brother Hyman stated that in Thomas's Brigade the Spirit of the Lord still 
wrought mightily. Fifty persons had joined the Church, and there had been many 
more conversions. Fast-day had been well observed in brigade and regimental 
services. 

" In Doles's, Daniels's, Scales's, and Stonewall Brigades a good state of religious 
feeling was existing ; congregations good, and services were held daily. 

"Brother Hall, from Louisiana, had been in the army a few days; had been 
preaching in the Washington Artillery to a most attentive congregation. Out of 
470 men in the corps, nearly all were out at preaching on fast-day. Israelites, 
Catholics and Protestants exhibited profound interest on the subject of religion. 
Brother Hall had come to labor in the army. 

" Brother Seay had been preaching, by way of experiment, for two weeks in the 
army. He was greatly surprised by the great religious spirit of the army, and 
thought it presented a very happy contrast with the spirit of the community. 



526 APPENDIX. 

"At this period the meeting took a more business turn. 

" Brother W. E. Jones, who had been appointed upon the committee to complete 
the list of chaplains, asked to be excused. Granted ; and Brother Dobbs appointed 
in his place. 

" The committee appointed long ago to procure a better supply of chaplains was 
dissolved, at their request. 

" Brother Talley moved that a committee be appointed to bring in an order of 
business at the next meeting. Carried. Committee — Brothers Lacy, Talley and 
Hopkins. 

" It was moved by Brother Lacy that a committee of three be appointed to report 
upon the subject of opening a correspondence with other armies in the field. Com- 
mittee — Brothers Hopkins, Booker and Betts. 

" Dr. Bocock exhorted the brethren to go forward and lean upon Jesus Christ for 
guidance and for strength. 

" Rev. Brothers W. A. Hall, James M. Lewis, John S. Grasty, were in attendance 
throughout the proceedings,^nd were invited to take part in the proceedings. 

"Rev. Henry D. Moore was reported as having become chaplain to the Twelfth 
Alabama Regiment, Rpdes's old Brigade. 

"After devotional services, the meeting adjourned, to meet at this place on next 
Tuesday, at lo A. M. 

"A. C. Hopkins, Temporary Clerk." 

I very much regret to find myself, for want of space, compelled to omit all of 
the remainder of the minutes of our Chaplains' Association; but the memory of the 
other sessions at Orange Court House and at Petersburg will never die, at least so 
long as one who participated in them shall live. 

We add to those given in the body of the book two additional proclamations of 
President Davis. 

\_Proclamation by the President of the Confederate States of America.'] 

" The Senate and House of Representatives of the Confederate States of Amer- 
ica have signified their desire that a day may be recommended to the people, to be 
set apart and observed as a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer, in the language 
following, to wit : 

' Reverently recognizing the Providence of God in the affairs of man, and grate- 
fully remembering the guidance, support and deliverance granted to our patriot 
fathers in the memorable war which resulted in the independence of the American 
Colonies, and now reposing in Him our supreme confidence and hope in the pres- 
ent struggle for civil and religious freedom, and for the right to live under a gov- 
ernment of our own choice, and deeply impressed with the conviction that without 
Him nothing is strong, nothing wise and nothing enduring; in order that the peo- 
ple of this Confederacy may have the opportunity, at the same time, of offering their 
adoration to the great Sovereign of the Universe, of penitently confessing their sins 
and strengthening their vows and purposes of amendment, in humble reliance upon 
His gracious and almighty power, 

' The Congress of the Confederate States of America do Resolve, That it be 
recommended to the people of these States, that Friday, the 8th day of April 
next, be set apart and observed as a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer 
that Almighty God would so preside over our public councils and authorities; that 
He would so inspire our armies and their leaders with wisdom, courage and perse- 
verance, and so manifest Himself in the greatness of His goodness and majesty 
of His power, that we may be safely and successfully led through the chastening to 
which we are being subjected, to the attainment of an honorable peace; so that, 
while we enjoy the blessings of a free and happy government, we may ascribe to 
Him the honor and the glory of our independence and prosperity.' 



APPENDIX. 527 

"A recommendation so congenial to the feelings of the people will receive their 
hearty concurrence; and it is a grateful duty to the Executive to unite with their 
representatives in inviting them to meet in the courts of the Most High. Recent 
events awaken fresh gratitude to the Supreme Ruler of nations. Our enemies have 
suffered repeated defeats, and a nefarious scheme to burn and plunder our capital, 
and to destroy our civil government by putting to death the chosen servants of the 
people, has been baffled and set at naught. Our armies have been strengthened ; 
our finances promise rapid progress to a satisfactory condition ; and our whole coun- 
try is animated with a hopeful spirit and a fixed determination to achieve independ- 
ence. 

" In these circumstances it becomes us, with thankful hearts, to bow ourselves be- 
fore the throne of the Most High, and, while gratefully acknowledging so many 
mercies, confess that our sins as a people have justly exposed us to His chastise- 
ment. Let us recognize the sufferings which we have been called upon to endure, 
as administered by a fatherly hand for our improvement, and with resolute courage 
and patient endurance let us wait on Him for our deliverance. 

" In furtherance of these objects, now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of 
the Confederate States of America, do issue this, my proclamation, calling upon the 
people of the said States, in conformity with the desire expressed by their represent- 
atives, to set apart Friday, -the 8th day of April, as a day of humiliation, fasting and 
prayer, and I do hereby invite them on that day to repair to their several places of 
public worship and beseech Almighty God ' to preside over our public councils and 
so inspire our armies and leaders with wisdom, courage and perseverance; and so 
to manifest Himself in the greatness of His goodness and in the majesty of His 
power, that we may secure the blessings of an honorable peace and of free govern- 
ment ; and that we, as a people, may ascribe all to the honor and glory of His 
name.' 

" Given under my hand and the seal of the Confederate vStates of America, at 
the city of Richmond, on this 12th day of March, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four. 

"Jefferson Davis, 

[L. S.] 

" By the President : J. P. Benjamin, Secretary of State." 

^^Proclamation Appouiting a Day for Public Worship J\ 

"It is meet that the people of the Confederate States should, from time to time, 
assemble to acknowledge their dependence on Almighty God ; to render devout 
thanks for His manifold blessings ; to worship His holy name ; to bend in prayer at 
His footstool; and to accept, with reverent submission, the chastening of His all-wise 
and all-merciful providence. 

" Let us, then, in temples and in field, unite our voices in recognizing, with ador- 
ing gratitude, the manifestations of His protecting care in the many signal victories 
with which our arms have been crowned ; in the fruitfulness with which our land 
has been blessed, and in the unimpaired energy and fortitude with which He has 
inspired our hearts, and strengthened our arms, in resistance to the iniquitous designs 
of our enemies. 

" And let us not forget that, while graciously vouchsafing to us His protection, 
our sins have merited and received grievous chastisement; that many of our best 
and bravest have fallen in battle; that many others are still held in foreign prisons; 
that large districts of our country have been devastated with savage ferocity, the 
peaceful homes destroyed, and helpless women and children driven away in desti- 
tution ; and that, with fiendish malignity, the passions of a servile race have been 



628 APPENDIX. 

excited by our foes into the commission of atrocities from which death was a wel- 
come escape. 

" Now-, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate Stales of 
America, do issue this my proclamation, setting apart Wednesday, the l6th day of 
November next, as a day to be specially devoted to the worship of Almighty God. 
And I do invite and invoke nil ihe people of these Confederate States to assemble 
on the day aforesaid, in their respective places of public worship, there to unite in 
prayer to our Hea.venly Father, thai He bestow His favor upon us; that He extend 
over us the protection of His almighty arm; that He sanctify His chastisement to 
our improvement, so that we may turn away from evil paths and walk righteously 
in His sight; and that He may restore peace to our beloved country, healing its 
bleeding wounds, and securing to us the continued enjoyment of our own right of 
self-government and independence; and that He will graciously hearken to us, 
while we ascribe to Him the power and the glory of our deliverance. 

"Given under my hand and the seal of the Confederate States, at Richmond, this 
26th day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
four. 

[l. s.] "Jefferson Davis. 

" By the President: J. P. Benjamin, Secretary." 

[^Letter from Stonewall Jackson^ 

"Near Fredericksburg, April 10, 1863. 

^^My Dear Sir : Your letter of the 27th ultimo, informing me that, at the recent 
meeting of the Home Missionary Society of the Baltimore Annual Conference, at 
Churchville, Augusta county, Virginia, I was ' constituted a life-director of said so- 
ciety,' has been received. I appreciate the honor conferred, and hope that I may 
yet be privileged to be present at your deliberations for advancing the great mission- 
ary cause. The harvest is abundant ; and my prayer is, that we may all labor with 
burning zeal for the glorious cause for which our Redeemer died. The Church 
has a mighty work before her ; and we are assured that, as she advances, her career 
will become more glorious, until the whole world shall bow before the mild sway 
of Emmanuel, 

" I am greatly gratified at seeing a growing religious interest among our troops 
here. 

" Thanking you for your prayers and good wishes, I remain, veiy truly and fra- 
ternally yours, " T, J. Jackson. 

" Rev. George V. Leech, Secretary." 



